Naruto: Blast to the Past
by The Dark Hood
Summary: Born in the same village. Friends turned enemies. Naruto and Sasuke find themselves enlisted to an almost impossible mission by the most unexpected individual in the weirdest of circumstances. But faced with the chance to fix the past, they embark on an entirely different journey. NOT yaoi.
1. Prologue: Blast to the Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Probably because I couldn't handle all the stress. How Kishimoto does it, I don't know. Must be the money….**

**AN: For those few of you who know me, yes I am starting a new story and no, I'm not abandoning the other one. This idea has been bouncing on my head ever since I finished TTH, or even before that really. About a year or so would be my guess, maybe more. So I thought I'd put it out there finally.**

**Firstly, this is completely different from TTH in the simple matter that it isn't a "Dark" Naruto story. In other words, Naruto would be just like in canon except maybe a bit smarter and not as hyperactive. Oh, and everything about canon is still the same. So no different plots or anything before this anyways. But other than that, it's still the same really.  
**

**Secondly, this is NOT yaoi. There will be pairings for both Naruto and Sasuke, but it won't happen for a while. It'll become apparent who they are soon enough, though.**

**So here it goes.  
**

**"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama**

* * *

**Prologue:  
Blast to the Past**

One Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes slowly, feeling a bright light illuminating far too strong for his liking. Not only that, but his entire body felt as if it were on fire. He was also tired. Very tired. If he could, the blond Uzumaki wished that we would be able to take a nap for months, maybe years. Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating. He was pretty sure Shikamaru wouldn't mind the idea, though.

Thinking of the Nara caused for a sudden wave of memories to hit him, mainly of just what exactly was occurring in the Elemental Nations at this point. The sudden excess of memories also brought a wave of pain along with it. Holding his head in pain as he stood up in a sitting position, Naruto winced even more as his whole body felt as bad as his brain, maybe even more.

Looking down, the blond saw his teared up orange and black jumpsuit staring right back at him in silence. Just what happened? All he could remember was a bright light, the others screaming at him, and then…..

Holding his head as another wave of pain hit him, Naruto realized that it was probably better for him to NOT try to recall what had happened. At least, for the moment anyways. As the wave of pain passed, the orange wearing Uzumaki finally took this time to study his surroundings. What he found could be describe in one simple word: white.

All around him, all the blond Uzumaki could see was a white empty land, or space, or whatever it was that this place was called because the Uzumaki certainly didn't know the word for it. It was then that Naruto was alerted to another presence as a groan ran out right next to him on his right. It seemed that his senses weren't back to a hundred percent if he had missed a person being right next to him.

Turning to look at where the groan came from, Naruto came to the sight of the last person he thought he would see under these circumstances: Uchiha Sasuke, his ex-teammate and presumed friend.

Just like Naruto had been a few moments earlier, the young Uchiha was sprawled on the ground on his back, another groan escaping him.

'Just what is Sasuke doing here?' wondered Naruto for a moment before correcting himself, 'Scratch that. Just what are WE doing here? Whatever or wherever here is,' he added as an afterthought as he took another look around. Finally being able to stand up, Naruto continued to study his surroundings, not that there was much to look at. And then it finally hit him as his brain continued to reboot itself.

'Oi, Kurama! Furball, are you there!?'

Silence. That was the response that the Uzumaki received. Now he really started to worry. Just what the hell had happened? Hadn't they just been fighting against Tobi, now known to really be Obito, and the resurrected Madara? And the Juubi….

"Dobe, what's going on here?"

It seemed that Sasuke had finally woken up from the realm of unconsciousness. And he had taken up to calling Naruto by his old nickname, it seemed. Just wonderful.

Turning to look at Sasuke who was beginning to stand up, Naruto could only shrug in a helpless manner. "I don't know. I just woke up and found us to be here….wherever here is."

Sasuke merely frowned at the answer and, like Naruto, began to study his surroundings as he stood up. An even bigger frown formed on his face as he realized that it was a wasteland. Holding his head, he looked at Naruto.

"Do you remember what happened? There was this light and then…."

Naruto frowned. "That's all I remember too. Then it all just goes blank for me."

Sasuke h'mphed slightly, a small smirk forming on his face which was obscured by his hand covering his face. "No surprise there…."

Naruto scowled slightly, crossing his arms. "Yea, yea, make all the jokes you want. But right now, we should be trying to find a way out of here, teme. _Then_ you can crack a joke which is odd for you in the first place."

Sasuke didn't respond as he looked around once again.

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand through his blond spiky hair. He just didn't get Sasuke. And people called him unpredictable. Then again, he probably earned that right to. A grin formed itself on his lips at the thought.

Sasuke t'ched, his impatience beginning to appear. "This is pointless, just standing here."

Naruto came out of his thoughts in time to hear Sasuke speak, making him nod. "Ha, yea. But how are we going to get out of here? We don't even know where here is!"

Sasuke's lips thinned into a straight line. For once, he agreed with Naruto. Just how were they-

Naruto began to walk away, both hands behind his back.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he looked at him walking away. "What are you doing? Better yet, where are you going?"

Naruto simply shrugged. "Dunno honestly. But beats just standing here. Like you said, it's pointless."

"Just like it's pointless to walk around aimlessly," retorted the Uchiha with one arm on the purple bow that was around his lower torso.

"Like I said, beats standing here."

Before Sasuke could respond, chuckling ran all around them, causing for both Uzumaki and Uchiha to be on guard instantly. They were immediately next to each other, back to back and both of their eyes narrowed.

"You two really do bring back memories to this old man," commented a voice that ran all around the duo.

Sasuke's sharingan sprung into life as he continued to look around while Naruto simply frowned.

"Then why don't you just show yourself then!" the blond challenged.

'He just has to rile up people,' thought Sasuke but didn't comment.

**"Ease up already, brat. The old man doesn't bite….much."**

Naruto's eyes widened as he immediately recognized the voice, relief flooding through him.

"Kurama!"

Less than a second later, the towering form of the nine tailed fox appeared before both shinobi, a massive grin on his face. But he wasn't the only one. In front of him stood another individual, except this one was human. Or looked human anyways.

Sasuke looked at him with some curiosity. "You….who are you?"

The man had a long beard with light silver-ish shaggy hair with two distinctive horns sticking out from the front of his hair and wore a white cloak with a high collar with said cloak also having both a red colored rinnegan and nine red magatama. He also had a necklace with six red magatama, making Naruto recall Nagato whose Deva path also wore something similar to it. Finally, he had a ringed staff on his right hand, making him look slightly like a priest of some kind.

The individual let out a small chuckle, closing his eyes momentarily before opening them. Both Naruto and Sasuke froze as they soon found themselves staring right into a pair of rinnegan eyes.

"I'm sure that, with my revealing my eyes to you, you can guess who I am," the man said with some mirth.

"The Rikudo Sennin," muttered Naruto, catching Sasuke's attention. Was this man really...

Both the Sennin and Kurama also heard Naruto whisper, causing for Kurama to nod in agreement.

**"That's right, brat. You are now meeting with the man who created the shinobi world that you know of."**

"An accomplishment which I'm not too proud of," the Sennin stated with a frown.

Sasuke turned towards the Sennin, lowering his guard and deactivating his sharingan in the process. If the Kyuubi recognized him at so, then it had to be true. "So you're the famed god, are you? Do you know what has happened to your creation? All of the pain that has been brought about because of it!" He had a lot of pent up frustration that he needed to release.

Naruto, who also lowered his guard, frowned at the accusation but stayed quiet for the moment. He knew just who exactly Sasuke was referring to, and he couldn't really blame him. He had felt the same way when Jiraiya had died.

The Sennin could only sigh, not taking any offense at the accusation. "I do. Which is why we're here right now."

"But how did we even get here in the first place?" asked Naruto as he looked around once more. "And just where is here?"

The Sennin looked at both of them quietly for a moment, his rinnegan still activated. Finally, he said, "Your relative has been tampering with things that he shouldn't have." He said this while looking particularly at Sasuke. "But I suppose it was inevitable considering just what I left behind when I died."

'He's talking about his two sons,' realized Naruto as he remembered his talk with Obito at the Land of Iron. 'So it might be true after all…..' If that were the case, then the Sennin have might caused a lot of the shinobi world's pain, if not all. Even if it was indirectly.

Kurama simply closed his eyes. He too had been part of that pain.

The Sennin carried on, "But because of this, it seems that if I might have a chance of fixing my greatest mistake. With your help, of course."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but decided to let the Sennin continue.

"It seems like this Uchiha Obito wasn't able to handle the power of the Juubi as it should be. Because of this, his body was completely torn apart once the Juubi got free from his control. But in doing so, a lot of energy was released which was the bright light that the two of you saw before coming here."

Both Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened in realization. So that was what that had been.

But Sasuke then frowned. "If I'm guessing this correctly, that released energy is the reason why we're here right now."

The Sennin nodded. "Indeed. The Juubi's energy is different from any other, even from the bijuu. It's stronger and more potent since it's made out of all nine bijuus themselves. The amount of energy released once Obito lost control and the Juubi was freed was so great that it even broke through time itself."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, trying to wrap his mind around the idea. Was the Juubi really that powerful? He should have guessed that, he supposed.

"But then why were Naruto and I the only ones to get suck into it?" questioned Sasuke as he spread his arms around him. "No one else is here!"

The Sennin nodded. "Indeed. But that's because they weren't close enough. You and Naruto were the ones engaging him once he lost control and close enough for you to be sucked into the vacuum, if you want to call it that. The others simply suffered the explosion which was caused a moment later."

Naruto's blood ran cold at the answer. "Are they all….dead?"

The Sennin looked at him with an unreadable look on his face. "That's a complicated question to answer."

Naruto frowned. "And why is that?"

Just like Sasuke, the Sennin spread his arms wide out. "Because of where we are. I just told you: there was a break through time itself because of the sudden release of the Juubi's power in a such violent manner. We are now in that break. Here, the concept of time doesn't exist. So depending on when you get out of this break, your friends might still be alive. Or maybe they aren't. In here, time is nothing but an illusion."

Naruto blinked, scratching his head again as he tried to understand exactly what the Sennin was saying. "I think I understand…." he then blinked once again. "Wait, so if I get this, you're saying that Sasuke and I can go back to the night of our births or when the village was founded!?"

The Sennin nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

Naruto's eyes were wide in shock. "Woah…."

Sasuke stepped in. "And I'm guessing that that's what you meant when you said that you wanted for us to fix your mistake. You want us to travel back in time to stop all of this from ever happening…."

The Sennin nodded for a second time, a grin on his face. "Yes, that's also correct. It seems that you two catch on fast."

Naruto exploded. "Just what do you mean by that!? How far in time are we going to go!"

Sasuke looked at the Sennin, sharing the same question as his ex knucklehead of a teammate.

The Sennin was silent for a few moments before he finally answered, "The most logical answer would be to stop Madara from ever thinking of doing any of this or maybe even go as far as my own time. But there are some things that are just meant to happen," he said this while looking directly at Naruto, which made said blond have a sudden bad feeling at the pit of his stomach. Something told him that that was going to come back and haunt him.

"So which time is it then?" asked Sasuke.

"At the end of the Second Shinobi war," answered the Sennin without hesitation before adding, "Give or take a few years. Something which was most definitely _not_ meant to happen was for things to go with Obito the way they did. That's the best time for you to go back which is just right before his birth."

Both Naruto and Sasuke shared a glance. Were they really going to do this? Just before, they had been fighting in a war with them most likely fighting themselves at the end. Were they really going to team up once again?

Picking up on their hesitance. the Sennin said, "I understand why you're troubled by this," he began, making both of the shinobi turn to look at their shared ancestor. "But do understand that this is my only chance at redemption. I had to go through a lot of troubles to arrange this as something as big as this is most definitely _not _allowed. Not to mention the fact that your bodies should have disintegrated into nothingness the moment that you were absorbed into this timeless dimension, even with Kurama's power."

Said bijuu simply huffed slightly but didn't comment.

The Sennin continued, "I know that circumstances, which were mostly set in motion because of me, made the two of you enemies. But now, you have a chance to stop that. To become something greater than Hokage. To save your friends, your clan, your village. To erase hatred from the shinobi world forever."

Sasuke clenched his fists as an image of Itachi flashed in his mind. If he did this, he could save Itachi. But not only Itachi.

'My entire clan….' That included his parents.

Naruto closed his eyes as the images of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and everyone else flashed in his mind before they were replaced by that of his parents. They had died too early just because of the hatred that ruled the shinobi world which had created the "nobody" Obito. And this was his chance to stop that from happening.

'I did promise Ero-sennin and Nagato…..' And this was maybe his best hope at doing that.

The Sennin looked on as the hesitation disappeared from both shinobi, only to be replaced by newfound determination. Raising their heads towards him, the Sennin instantly knew that they had reached a decision.

Behind him, Kurama smirked as he too saw this. **'It's time for a new adventure, eh brat? Let's just see where we end up….'**

"It seems we have reached an agreement then," commented the Sennin with both Naruto and Sasuke merely nodding. "Good. I will forever be in your debt."

Naruto grinned. "Don't worry about it! We also have our own reasons for doing this although our end goal is the same."

Sasuke nodded. "That's right. We should be thanking you."

The Sennin sighed in gratitude. "I still thank you. The only thing that I should warn you about once you wake up is to _not _panic, no matter what you experience."

But Naruto and Sasuke became suspicious at the tone in which the Sennin said that but neither dwelt on it.

"Next, I will be guiding the both of you once you're in a stable and secured position. But remember what the ultimate goal is: to prevent the Fourth Shinobi War from ever happening and indirectly also prevent the Juubi from ever being recreated again. It will be the first step into fixing the future of this world."

Both Naruto and Sasuke just listened intently.

"Kurama here will also be with you as you cannot be without him without experience some unneeded repercussions," he added as he looked at Naruto who nodded before looking at Kurama with a grin.

Without saying another word, both Naruto and Sasuke were immediately engulfed into a bright light feeling as if their bodies were on fire once more. In other words, it was unpleasant.

"One final thing," began the Sennin with a smile as both of their visions began to get hazy, "you two are going to find yourselves separated for a while. But like I said, _don't_ panic. It'll work out at the end."

Both Naruto's and Sasuke's eyes widened at that, but before they could say anything in response, they disappeared with the light.

The Sennin let out a sigh of relief as even Kurama behind him disappeared. Things had gone a lot better than he expected. Then again, both of his descendants had shared equal pain because of his actions. But now, he was going to help them regain that happiness which was why he chose the time period that he had. True, it would prevent Obito from becoming what he turned out to be. But if things went right, it would have also been for another reason.

The Sennin smiled. Yes, he was certainly looking forward to this. Their journey had just begun.

* * *

**And well, that's a wrap!….for now anyways.**

**Yeah, I know. It might have been rash of me to post this when I barely have anytime for my other ongoing story, but I just couldn't help myself, I guess. Meh, I'll manage somehow.**

**Another thing, this is going to be a LONG story. Like, really long. I already have most of it planned it out, so yea. Maybe they'll be another update before Christmas or New Years, but I don't know yet.**

**So a feedback would be appreciated. That's all for now.**

**Till next time.**


	2. Uzumaki

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**AN: Yes, yes, I'm a lot earlier than expected. I wanted to get the first real chapter in before Christmas really. Well, if you're here than you're probably not complaining about it. But don't get used to me updating once a week, especially for this story. At any rate, there is just one thing that I have to state now before the curtain falls so to speak. And that is how this story is going to unfold.**

**Like the Rikudo Sennin, or Otsutsuki Hagoromo if you prefer now, said, both Naruto and Sasuke aren't going to be in the same location at the beginning. And yes, this was done on purpose for many reasons that will be given as the story unfolds. But this is where what I wanted to say comes in. What I'm basically going to do is split Naruto's and Sasuke's "Welcome to the past" Arc if you want to call it that. In other words, I'm going to first focus on Naruto and the situations that he has to face until a certain point before moving on towards Sasuke and so on until they both reunite which won't be for quite some chapters if my calculations are correct.**

**Okay, that took longer than I expected but whatever. That is all folks. So without further delay, enjoy.**

**"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama**

* * *

**Chapter 1:  
Uzumaki**

Naruto, for the second time in less than a day or what he thought could be less than a day since all perception of time was just basically thrown out the window by this point, felt his entire body burn as if it were engulfed in a giant Uchiha-styled fireball. In other words, his body was in extreme pain.

Finally feeling his vision return to his eyes after being blinded by yet another light, Naruto cursed out loud as more pain coursed through his body. Who knew that time travel was so damn painful? Then again, the Sennin did say that his body was supposed to disintegrate into nothingness by traveling through time. Maybe that was it, why his body hurt so much! It was broken down by traveling through time only for it to be rebuilt again! No doubt through the Sennin's power once again. Still, the pain was worth it if the only other choice was to be dead.

Nodding his now existent head, Naruto let a grin appear on his face, feeling completely proud at having figured something out. And people called him an idiot. Ha! Preposterous!

**"No matter how many times I see it, that grin is still as dumb as it's always been."**

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched at hearing the comment. Finally taking the time to look at his surroundings, Naruto found himself in the familiarity that was the sewer of his conscious. And before him stood the familiar and sarcastic nine tailed fox, recently named Kurama. Said bijuu was currently lying down, his head on top of his paws as he looked at his host with the utmost amusement in his ruby eyes, not even bothering to hide it. Something which pissed Naruto off.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to enjoy at whatever it is that's got you so amused?"

Kurama shrugged, or what looked as a shrug anyways. **"Don't know. You tell me, brat. Or what? I can't be happy at seeing butterflies flying in the open air with a beautiful sunset in the background?"**

Even Naruto could tell that that was sarcasm at its finest. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You know. Everybody knows you're too good for stuff like that."

A massive smirked formed on the bijuu's face. **"Heh, I'm glad we're on the same page then, brat."** A serious look then took its place. **"Let's get to business then."**

Seeing this and hearing the seriousness behind the bijuu's tone, Naruto focused all his attention back on this. Even the pain was already leaving his body. Thank Kami for that.

Seeing his host focusing entirely on him, Kurama began, **"First, there's quite a few details that the old man didn't have the time to tell you, brat. But you have to understand that he was rushed even if he didn't show it."**

Confusion showed itself on the blond's face. "Why? I mean, weren't we inside that break? I thought time didn't exist there!"

Kurama nodded. **"You're right about that. But that's not what I'm talking about. You remember how he told you and the Uchiha how your bodies would have been disintegrated the moment that you were absorbed into that break?"** At Naruto's nod, he continued, **"Well, what he didn't mention to you was how it still would have happened even after you were inside."**

Naruto looked even more confused. "Why? I mean, how could that even happen!"

**"It's quite simple, brat. Although for someone like you, it might not be."**

Naruto scowled at the joke.

Kurama chuckled for a moment before carrying on, **"As I was saying, it's quite simple. Human bodies aren't meant to exist there. I would have been fine since all I am is a highly mass of chakra with no "real" body. The old man was fine too as he was simply a spirit."**

A shiver ran down Naruto's back at that. He hadn't thought about it before, but he had basically been talking to a ghost! And he was scared of them! Yes, ladies and gentleman, he could stand up to a madman that was trying to enslave the world in a powerful illusion as well as face what was to be known a god which had basically created the world but could not stand up to a measly ghost. But hey, everyone had his own fear….right!?

Not taking notice, or rather not caring, of his partner's "predicament," Kurama continued on with his explanation.

**"But what you should know is that in that break there is highly energized energy, most likely being the components that make it up which do not abide by the rules of the natural world. Of course, even I can't explain it fully since I don't even know how they can exist in the first place. Maybe the old man knows." **The beast shrugged. **"At any rate, it's that same energy that would have tore your bodies apart if it hadn't been for the old man preventing that."**

Naruto's eyes were wide. "He can do that?"

The bijuu smirked. **"Trust me, I was as surprised as you were. I don't know. He said something about it being a 'blessing' of some sort. But it wouldn't' have lasted long. That's why he sent you and the Uchiha off as soon as he could with the most information he could give you in the available time. But of course, he was bound to not have told you some things."**

Naruto frowned as he remembered the last thing the Sennin had told them. "Yeah. Like Sasuke and me being separated for a while…." The gears in his brain began to turn. "Hold up, if Sasuke and I are not together right now, then where are we!? And where is he for that matter!?"

Kurama h'mphed. **"Ah, you finally asked, eh? Well, it would be more amusing to **_**not **_**tell you and watch your reaction when you do find out."**

Naruto t'ched, but before he could complain, the bijuu continued.

**"Relax, brat. In normal circumstances, I would do that. Then again, I wonder how being sent back in time could be considered to be in normal circumstances…." **The giant fox trailed off before coming back. **"Anyway, I'm not going to do that. Not with what's at stake and how delicate handling the first step will be."**

Naruto began to sweat a bit. He most certainly did _not _like the sound of that. Or the way that Kurama even said it. But a promise was a promise. And he never went back on his promise.

"Don't keep me in suspense too much longer, furball. Just tell me where I am right now."

Waiting just a moment longer to savor the moment for at least a second, the nine tailed bijuu finally answered. **"We're in Uzu, brat. The homeland where you're mother is from and indirectly you as well."**

Silence reign supreme after Kurama said that. Naruto merely looked at him with a blank look for about ten seconds before he finally exploded.

"WHAT!"

Kurama burst out in laughter. **"Hahaha! Okay, maybe it was still just as funny as if you would have found out by someone else telling you."**

Naruto was hyperventilating Kurama wiped some imaginary tears from his eyes with his tails. So….he was in Uzu. The same place which had been destroyed after the Second Shinobi War if he remember correctly. Or something along those lines. The same place which was where his mother had been born. But this was too much! He had never giving it much thought until now, but the blond Uzumaki finally realized that he would meet his parents in time when they were just kids. Or maybe not even kids if they hadn't even born yet depending on when exactly he landed. Ugh, his brain was going to overload from thinking too much!

Kurama simply enjoyed the show in front of him. It was a blessing of course. One which he would not let go to ruins.

It actually took Naruto a few minutes before he finally calmed down. Putting a hand on his stomach, Naruto looked up at the amused fox.

"Why are we here of all places, Kurama? Why did the Rikudo Sennin even sent us here in the fist place!? Shouldn't we be in Konoha!? That's where Obito is from! How am I even supposed to get there now? Because I'm sure that they won't just let a stranger like me just waltz in there! Especially during this time!"

Kurama did have to admit that the blond did have a point. Based on wrong assumptions of course. **"Don't underestimate the old man, Naruto. He knew that things are different in Konoha considering that they're at war right now. But he had his reasons for sending us here first."**

Naruto looked at him in the eyes. "And I'm guessing that you won't tell me those reasons?"

Kurama sighed. **"That's between you and the old man. Do you want to complain? Take it up with him. He simply told me what he was doing. I had no control in this."**

Naruto opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. It wasn't like he blamed the Sennin for what he did. Quite the opposite. After all, the opportunity that he had given both him and Sasuke was one that no one else had ever been given before! They had the chance to actually save the Shinobi world from Obito's and Madara's actions. For the Fourth Shinobi war to never occur in the first place!

Looking at Kurama, Naruto nodded. "I…understand. I mean, I don't understand why he would sent me here first, but I do understand that it's not your fault or that I should be complaining."

Kurama was actually impressed. The brat was indeed growing up. Who would have figured? But the bijuu would keep that thought to himself.

Scratching the back of his head, Naruto continued, "So I'm guessing that Sasuke's in Konoha right now, right?"

Kurama nodded. **"Indeed. The old man told me how there were things that the Uchiha needed to do there on his own just like you do here in Uzu."**

Naruto sighed but nodded. "I get it. Most likely things with his clan….."

Kurama grinned. **"Don't forget, brat, that now you have a clan too. At this time, the Uzumaki clan is still in existence."**

Naruto's eyes widened as he finally realized that fact. "You're right! I had completely forgotten about that! But wait, does that mean that kaa-chan is here right now too?"

Kurama was silent for a seconds before answering slowly, **"From what I know, she should be. I don't really know since I wasn't sealed in her at the time, so things before that are a mystery to me."**

Naruto chuckled as he placed both of his arms behind his head, a goofy smile on his face. "Hehehe, it'll be funny, seeing her as a little kid."

**'That makes two of us,'** thought Kurama before he added, this time out loud. **"Remember, brat, that she's not technically your mother at this point. So don't go around screaming 'kaa-chan' at her. You'll simply freak her out and others as well."**

Naruto deflated slightly at hearing this, not having had considered this fact. "You're right….." But then he perked right back up. "Well, at least I'll get to see her and hopefully protect her too. That's enough for me."

**'Of course it is,'** stated the bijuu in his mind. If there was one thing that Kurama did like about Naruto was that the blond never complained when it really mattered. He only saw the positives of a bad thing whereas other humans would simply look at the negatives. It was one of the reasons why the giant fox really did believe that Naruto _could _bring peace to the Elemental Nations, just like the old man wanted. And he would help him. After all, Naruto's will was the old man's will. And the old man was just like a father to him. He had created him and all of the other bijuu so how could he not? It was only natural.

The complete opposite could be said about Sasuke, though. Then again, both Naruto and Sasuke were like yin and yang. They complemented each other. Together, they were most than likely unstoppable which was why they were both the best candidates for this task. But that was simply one of the reasons why the old man had chosen them. Kurama could tell that there were more, but he couldn't quite place his tails as to what the others could be. At least, not yet. But soon, he would.

Naruto was looking around when the bijuu finally came out of his thoughts. Looking up at him, Naruto asked, "So? When exactly am I going to wake up? And just where in Uzu am I?"

Kurama closed his eyes, trying to look to the real world. After a minute, he finally opened them and looked down at his host. **"The second one is easy to answer. From what I can tell, you're in a hospital right now. I could be mistaken, but that's the most likely place where they put you in. As for your first question…."**

The bijuu could only shrug. **"I have no idea. This is the first time that I've dealt with this type of situation, so I can't really say. At least until both your body and mind return to one hundred percent or close to it."**

Naruto held his head, feeling another headache coming. "Just great." He didn't really enjoy the idea of being unconsciousness in an entirely different time period without knowing anyone except for one single person with said person being who knew how many miles away. It left him vulnerable. And in this current situation and circumstances, it wasn't a good thing. He could not fail without even being given a chance! That would just plain suck like a major kick in the balls.

Sensing the distress coming from his host, Kurama grinned darkly. Oh, he was so going to enjoy what he was about to say. It would completely top the whole "being back in Uzu" detail from before. It would be ten times better! Maybe even more so if he was lucky. Ah, yes. He could already see it. The look of both shock and despair on Naruto's face to say the least.

It seemed as if some things never changed.

**"Oi, brat."**

Looking up at the fox, Naruto had a sudden bad feeling at the bottom of his stomach as he saw the grin on the giant fox's face. Hell, he could sense the excitement radiating from the bijuu! It was almost as if that were the power that he contained! Excitement instead of chakra. Not a very useful power in a fight alright.

Gulping down a sudden lump down his throat, Naruto knew that he was going regret saying this but wasn't able to quell his curiosity.

"What is it, furball?"

The grin on Kurama's face became even wider. **"Don't worry about them doing anything to you. The Uzumaki clan has always been known for their generosity unless provoked, especially to poor, defenseless children."**

Confusion replaced fear. "And just what do you mean by saying that? I mean, I'm not a kid….."

Kurama continued to grin. **"Why, I'm so glad you asked that. Why don't you just take a good look at your reflection in the sewer water, brat. It'll explain everything to you."**

Naruto simply looked at the bijuu in confusion for a moment longer before doing what the fox told him to. Truth be told, it didn't even take a single second after Naruto had looked into his own reflection for him to perform his responsive action from what stared back at him.

He screamed. In midst of his screams, he failed to notice the laughter which the nine tailed bijuu could no longer contain. It seemed as if it had been a great day for one fox while a horrible one for one blond individual.

* * *

"Is he still not awake yet?"

"We're terrible sorry, Arashi-sama, but no. It seems as if the boy has been quite through a lot before he arrived here. His body had almost completely shut down. Even now, his respiratory system isn't back to one hundred percent yet. It's a miracle that he was still alive when you found him."

Uzumaki Arashi, the current head of the Uzumaki clan, stroked his long red beard as he listened to what the doctor in front of him told him. Despite his age, his hair had yet to lose its lively red color as it flowed all the way down to his lower back, something which he was extremely grateful for. He also had dark green eyes which expressed much caring for most of their life. He currently wore what looked to be as Kage robes which were the normal white with light blue color one, almost similar to the robes that the Kazekage of Suna wore.

"I see…."

There was another man next to him, almost similar in appearance except for the fact his hair was a lot shorter than Arashi's as well as having hazel blue eyes instead of the dark green of the fellow Uzumaki next to him. He wore a simple white male kimono.

"Why are you even so interested in this boy, old friend? While it is true that his washing up from the sea is intriguing, he's of no threat. He's probably just an orphan from this war that somehow got trapped into the sea and ended up here."

Arashi turned to look at him. "While that may be true, I wouldn't put it past the other nations from planting a spy in here through the most of ridiculous of circumstances, even if it is just in a form of a boy. Especially that Onoki. You know how he is. Of course, there's also the possibility of it being Kumo as well. You know how they've been trying to get a hand on our secrets of fuinjutsu for the longest of times."

The man sighed. "I know that. I'm just trying to ignore it is all. If I were to acknowledge that shinobi would even use a child as young as this, it would just make me lose even more faith in the Great Nations."

'But that's how it's always been,' thought Arashi as he focused his gaze back to the sleeping blond child inside the room through the big glass window. 'Even before the villages were founded, children were merely raised for war.' Arashi released a tired sigh. Things were always just too complicated.

The doctor bowed, seeing as his presence was no longer needed. "If you excuse me."

Arashi waved him off as the doctor turned and walked off. The two men stood in silence for a few moments before the other man spoke, "Do you really think that this boy could be a spy?"

Arashi sighed again. "I really don't know what to believe anymore, Kenji. Both Iwa and Kumo are getting too restless for my tastes. Even though we've declared ourselves neutral from this war, we've still been dragged into it."

The now named Kenji shrugged. "Well, we do have a treaty with Konoha. You know how much Onoki despises them. And Kumo just wants one of us to create their own brainwashed Uzumaki clan for their own purposes as well as gain their hand on our fuinjutsu techniques."

Arashi nodded. "Exactly. I have both my family and this village to protect. No matter how much it may destroy me inside, I _will _kill this boy if he turns out to be a spy from one of them. I can't risk my people."

Kenji chuckled. "And that's why the people love you so much. Even now, you haven't changed one bit, old friend."

Arashi chuckled back in response. "Ha, I'll take that as a compliment."

Both men continued to chuckle for a few seconds before turning their attention back to the sleeping boy inside the room. A moment later, the machines strapped to him in order to stabilize his condition began to sound off.

Both men looked at each other. That didn't sound good. In these situations, it was better to get the doctor.

* * *

Back in the realm of the unconscious, Naruto was in the process of hyperventilating once more. He was on his knees and hunched over, coughing loudly as his brain tried to keep up with what his eyes had just transmitted to it.

Kurama, having stopped laughing at seeing the serious reaction that Naruto now had, was now trying to help his host come out of his shock.

**"You've got to calm down, brat! Remember what the old man told you! To **_**not **_**panic, no matter what happened!" **It would be a major bust if Naruto died here just because of a little panic attack. Hell, without even having done anything! Kurama would not let that happen. Not on his watch.

But it seemed as if he didn't have to do anything as Naruto took control of his coughs, calming himself as he took huge gulps of air.

"Y-yeah, I know, furball! Just give me a minute!"

Well, the bijuu could certainly do that. It wasn't like he blamed Naruto for being shocked. He had expected it. Hell, even the old man had! After all, he was basically just a kid again! While some people might take tremendous amount pleasure at being young again, Naruto was not one of them. Well, more technically people at Naruto's age wouldn't. After all, he had been sixteen. His whole life had just been starting. Now, it would be a totally different story had he been sixty or so. Kurama only wondered how the Uchiha would take to his changes. Probably a bit calmer than Naruto's reaction if he had to guess.

Naruto finally stood up, glaring at Kurama in the process. "Oi, how come I'm back to being a five year old brat again!?"

**"Well, technically you're eight now."**

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched at the response. Did the furball really think that that made all the difference!? He was still a kid, plain and simple!

"Tch, you know what I mean! Why am I a kid again!? The Sennin didn't say anything about this!" Now that he was conscious of being a kid again, Naruto took notice of the fact that his voice sounded a lot different from what he was used to. Just how the hell had he missed that!?

Kurama could only shrug in a hopeless manner. **"Don't ask me, brat. I told you: I had no control of this. This is all the old man's doing. But if I had to guess, it probably has to do with helping you set yourself in a good position in Uzu. It's a lot easier to throw suspicion off your back when you're just a kid. Not so good when you're an adult or even a teenager for that matter."**

Naruto ran a tiny hand through his hair. "I see your point," he admitted reluctantly. 'Calm down,' he reminded himself. This wasn't the worst that could happen. Naruto could think of plenty of other things that were probably worst. But really, who could blame him for reacting the way that he had! Seeing yourself turn back into a little kid surely warranted some shock.

'Whatever. I'll just have to go with the flow,' he finally thought. 'Like Kurama said, the Sennin must have had his reasons for doing this. I just hope they're good ones…..'

Kurama suddenly looked up, surprise reading all over his face.

Seeing the look, Naruto could only sigh. Oh great. More problems it seemed. It was then that Naruto felt himself being forced out of his own consciousness. Of course, he fought back, not knowing what was causing it.

Taking notice of this, Kurama stepped in. **"Calm down, brat. That's just your own consciousness trying to get you to wake up after that little episode you just had."**

Relief flooded through Naruto. "I see. Alright then." He let the feeling work its magic.

Kurama looked at him. **"Remember, brat. Play it cool. Don't draw too much suspicion to yourself. You're just a regular kid with no memories as to how he got here."**

Naruto nodded. He could do that. It was all just like a prank to him. And that was one of the few things in which he was a master of.

Taking a huge gulp of air, the blond Uzumaki readied himself. It was showtime. It was now or never.

* * *

"What's going on? Is the boy alright?"

The doctor, having come back, nodded as a nurse checked all of the equipment to make sure it was working properly.

"Yes, he is," he answered to Arashi's question. They were now all inside of the hospital room with Kenji leaning against the wall next to the door, both of his arms crossed in front of his chest. "For whatever reason, his heart pressure started to increase. It's possible that the boy could have been having an extreme dream depending on the circumstances in which the boy was in before he got here."

Arashi nodded in understanding. Mental trauma, eh? Quite common a lot these days, he supposed. It also brought great sadness to him at thinking that a boy at this age suffering from mental trauma was common. Just how worse could this world get?

All activity ceased within the room as a groan escaped the young boy, shocking all the occupants.

"B-but how!" stuttered the doctor at seeing the boy starting to regain consciousness. "He shouldn't be awake for at least a few more days!"

"Lower your voice," commanded Arashi with a slight frown. "We don't want to scare the boy." 'At least, not yet…..' It all depended as to just what exactly the boy turned out to be. If he was a spy, he would be killed on the spot.

The boy's eyes fluttered open, immediately flicking all around and taking in their surrounding. Alarmed more than anything if Arashi had to deduce. So the boy wasn't expecting to be here then. That raised a point in his favor.

Kenji also took notice of this but simply let Arashi handle the situation. He was, after all, the leader.

The nurse placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, making said boy look at her. The nurse had a kind and gentle smile as she spoke, "Welcome back, young man. It's great to see you awake."

The boy simply looked at her as she handed him a glass of water which he immediately took and gulped down.

Arashi chuckled. 'Impatient one, we have here.'

The doctor leaned in to whisper to him. "Arashi-sama, what exactly do you want us to do with him now that he's awake?"

Arashi spared him a glance before focusing solely on the blond boy as the nurse gave him some instructions. "Monitor his progress for now. See if he's still in any danger. But before that, I need to speak privately with him."

The doctor immediately knew what his village leader meant by that, so he nodded. "As you wish, Arashi-sama. Emi-san."

The nurse, now identified as Emi, nodded at the doctor before sending the boy one last reassuring look as she made for the door with the doctor right in front of her. Kenji closed the door as soon as they had both left the room.

Arashi was still staring at the boy who in turn looked right back at him with the utmost curiosity. 'So, he doesn't know who I am? That's surprising.' It certainly was. Everyone knew of the Uzumaki clan. Unless the boy was just faking it. Damn, would having one of the famed Yamanaka certainly come in handy now or what? Of course, the realm of fuinjutsu also offered similar services except that it was more difficult. Then again, everything about fuinjutsu was complicated.

"Welcome, young man," spoke Arashi in the kindest tone that he could muster at the moment. "My name is Uzumaki Arashi, the current head of the Uzumaki clan. And in case you don't know, you are currently in the homeland of the Uzumaki, Uzu."

The boy merely settled for a nod, taking all of this in calmly.

Seeing as the boy wasn't going to introduce himself of his own accord, Arashi instead asked him. "What is your name, child?"

The boy didn't miss a beat. "Naruto."

Arashi raised a flabbergasted eyebrow. "Naruto? You're named after ramen?" It was a second too late, but Arashi realized just how rude that sounded. Then again, Kenji was chuckling in the background, so he wasn't the only one. That was a relief.

The boy, Naruto, looked offended. "I don't know. That's just what my name is."

Arashi nodded. "I see. And I'm sorry if that upset you. It wasn't my intention."

Naruto raised an eyebrow slightly, obviously not having expected for Arashi to apologize. "It's okay. I understand why people would get confused like that."

'This boy is not ordinary,' thought Arashi as he continued to observe him. There was just this air of maturity around him. Arashi just hoped that it wasn't for the wrong reasons.

Kenji's thoughts mirrored those of Arashi's.

"No surname?" he asked, continuing with the conversation.

Naruto was silent for a few moments before finally replying with, "I….don't know. I can't remember. At least, I don't think I have one." It wasn't a _complete _lie either. But better to not stress out the details. It saved people a lot of problems.

Arashi stroked his beard as he continued to look at Naruto. "I see…."

Silence then reign in within the hospital room with Naruto shuffling uncomfortably. Finally, it was broken by Naruto himself. "Umm…..are you planning on hurting me?"

The question took both Arashi and Kenji by surprise. Why would the boy ask that? While it was true that the thought had crossed Arashi's mind, that was if and only if the boy turned out to be a spy. Otherwise, he wouldn't. So why would he ask that? Had he seemed aggressive or something? Arashi honestly didn't know.

"Why would you ask that?" questioned Kenji from his spot, making Naruto turn to look at him.

Naruto shrugged. "I dunno. It just seems like it. Am I wrong?"

Arashi and Kenji shared a glance before Arashi focused back on the sitting Naruto. 'He's more observant than I thought,' thought Arashi. 'He's definitely not an ordinary boy. But just how different is he? So far, he doesn't seem like he could possibly be a spy.'

"Well then," began Arashi, "we're not going to hurt you. So you can relax, my boy. We're just here to ask you a few questions as to why you would show up the way you did."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And which way was that?" This was most certainly not a lie. He had no idea how he had gotten here in the first place.

"My son found you washed up by the currents of the ocean at shore," answered Arashi calmly. "Not only that, but you were also not wearing any clothes. Do you mind explaining to us just how an eight year old ends up stranded here naked?"

Naruto was internally screaming in his head. How the hell had he arrived here naked!? Maybe the whole time travel thing disintegrated everything that it'd passed through that wasn't human. Then again, if his theory was right and his body was just disintegrated before placed back together the same way it had been, then his clothes could have gotten lost in the process. Not only that, but he was now an eight year old brat. In the shrinking process, they must have come off somehow. Bummer. He quite liked that new jumpsuit. Well, it most certainly wasn't new now. Naruto briefly wondered where or when it could have ended up before pushing the thought out of his mind. He had more important things do deal with.

"That's how I got here?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, confusion written all over his face. "I really don't know. I just can't remember how I ended up in that situation."

'Well, this is a problem,' thought Arashi. Someone with amnesia was certainly a problem. But it at least removed the possibility of being a spy. Then again, he could be faking it. But looking at the boy, Arashi could tell that they confusion was genuine. There was some hope, after all.

'This boy doesn't look to be a spy or anything of the sort,' thought Kenji before looking at Arashi. 'Well, old friend, what are you going to do now?' If the boy was clean, then Arashi would more than likely let him go. But the question was: where? Where would the boy stay? If he had amnesia, then there was no way that the boy could be thrusted back into the world all by himself, especially in this current time. The shinobi world was harsh right now.

"Naruto, are you certain that you can't remember anything?" asked Arashi calmly but with a serious undertone.

Naruto could only nodded. "Hai. I don't even know where Uzu is honestly! I'm just glad you found me, Uzumaki….san."

Arashi smiled slightly. It seemed as if the boy was trying to be polite but didn't have much experience with it. It reminded him a lot of Kenji. Said individual also took notice of this fact with a small grin.

Arashi took a few steps forward until he was besides Naruto's bed, kneeling next to it. "Well then, Naruto, how would you like to come live with me?"

'Oi, oi!' screamed Kenji in his head as his eyes widened. 'There's a limit to how kind you can be!' While it was true that this Naruto didn't look to be a spy or anything of the sort, the possibility couldn't be rule out one hundred percent. Not yet. 'Just what are you thinking, Arashi?'

Naruto had a similar reaction to Kenji. Both of his eyes were wide open in shock as he looked at Arashi. "Y-you want me to come live with you?"

Arashi nodded. "Yes. And not only that, but how would you like to take up the name 'Uzumaki' as well? It would certainly sound cool. 'Uzumaki Naruto,' eh? Don't you like the sound of that?"

Even though Naruto knew that that was his name and having had heard it so many times before, a sudden wave of warmth hit Naruto's heart. Even tears began to form themselves in his eyes.

Arashi smiled at seeing this. "I'm guessing that you like the idea?"

"Y-yes. I would be grateful."

Arashi patted his shoulder as he stood back up. "That's good to hear. But for right now, you should get some rest. We'll finish discussing this later."

As he finished saying this, the same nurse from before, Emi, walked inside the room with a clipboard in hand as she made some adjustments to the heart monitor and such.

Arashi made for the door with Kenji already having walked out of the room. But before completely leaving, he sent one last wave to Naruto who returned it. He then walked out, closing the door after him.

Emi smiled at him. "Arashi-sama is kind, isn't he?"

Despite himself, Naruto smiled back. "Yeah, he really is…."

Maybe things wouldn't be too bad, after all.

* * *

"Just what the hell are you thinking, Arashi!?"

"Lower your voice, Kenji. Remember that this is a hospital."

Both men were walking down the empty hallways towards the exit of the hospital that stood near the center of the village. It was currently night out with most of the staff of the hospital having had gone home a few hours earlier.

Kenji sent Arashi an impatient look. "Answer my question! Do you realize just how dangerous it is to allow this kid in your own home without fully knowing who he is!? Yes, the possibly that he's a spy is low, but it's still there!"

Arashi glanced at him. "And here I thought that you didn't want to think that way. What changed?"

"When you started putting your whole family at risk!" retorted Kenji. Both men were now standing outside of the hospital at this point, the full moon shining brightly in the night sky.

Arashi looked at the moon for a moment before turning his attention back to his agitated best friend and second in command. "Yes, I know that there's a risk in letting this boy inside my own home. However, the risk would still be there even if I let him out in the village. This way, I can keep a closer eye on him. Besides," Arashi paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he sighed before opening them and looking straight at Kenji, "when I look at him, I can't help but be reminded of Kushina. There's a possibility that this boy can perhaps have parents just as much that he could have been sent by another village. Maybe even higher. What if he really just ended here by accident? An accident at sea perhaps. No one ever knows. It's then that I think that if it were my little Kushina in that situation, I wouldn't want for her to be thrown out to the real world unprepared like that. It just wouldn't be right. So instead, I chose this method."

Kenji could only sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, chuckling in the process. "Hehehehe, you really are soft under all that tough macho exterior, aren't you? Well, when you put it that way, you make me look as the bad guy instead."

Arashi smiled as he placed a hand on Kenji's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I also understand where you're coming from. And I'm glad that you're also thinking of the welfare of this village and my family. You would have made a great leader. Maybe even better than me."

Kenji snorted in amusement. "Please. Too much politics for me. Then again, I was still sort of dragged into it because of you."

Arashi chuckled. "What are you going to do?"

Kenji grinned before adding, "You do realize that you'll now have to convince your wife, right? And we both know how Kazumi-chan is…."

Arashi chuckled some more as he turned and continued to walk back to the mansion where the village head and his family stayed in as per tradition. "You let me worry about her."

Kenji was right behind him, shaking his head. "And that's what I'm worried about."

'That makes two of us…..'

* * *

This night was turning out to be a wonderful one alright.

Naruto sighed as he laid back on his bed, both hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. It had been…..surprising to say the least, the conversation with this Arashi person. So he was the clan head, eh? It seemed like he was going to be seeing more of him.

**"Good job, brat. Not exactly perfect but better than I had expected alright."**

Naruto couldn't help but roll his eyes. 'Thanks for the confidence, furball. Really means a lot.'

The blond could very well make out Kurama's laughter from within his head. **"Whatever, brat. I'm not here to be all sunshine and rainbows. That's too cute for my taste."**

Naruto grinned at that. 'Yeah, guess you're right about that.'

A comfortable silence fell upon the two individuals, one human and the other a bijuu. Who would have thought that they would someday become pals like this? Fighting against each other, helping each other, joking around. It was as if they were pals since the beginning. And Naruto could honestly say that he quite enjoyed it. He didn't know just how he would have handled things if it weren't for Kurama. That thought made Naruto pity Sasuke. The Uzumaki could only wonder what the young Uchiha must have been going through. He only hoped that he could somehow pulled things together.

**"So you're sure about going to live with the clan head?"**

The question brought Naruto out of his train of thought. Finally registering the question, the blond nodded. 'Yeah. It would make things a lot easier. I don't really know anyone here and no one knows me for that matter. So my best chance of survival is with him.'

Kurama nodded within Naruto's subconscious. **"You're right about that. Just don't give him or anyone else something to suspect. At least, not until the old man contacts us again."**

'When will that be exactly?'

**"Honestly? I don't know. When we're secured and stable I would say. But really, nothing ever goes according to plan. We'll just make do right now."**

Naruto nodded, agreeing with the bijuu. 'Yeah.'

**"You better get some shuteye, brat. Something tells me that tomorrow is going to be a long day."**

Something else in which the blond Uzumaki agreed with the bijuu. It wasn't long before he let the darkness take him, leaving Kurama alone to think some things through.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, father? I mean, we don't even know who he is!"

It was now early morning in the prosperous land of Uzu. We currently find ourselves in the mansion of the Uzumaki clan head, more specifically his office. In front of him stood two individuals. One was a young male around the age of nineteen with short red hair and dark green eyes identical to those of Arashi. He wore the standard Uzu jonin uniform. The other was a woman who, despite being close to Arashi's age, still looked beautiful. She has long red hair which was tied in a bun as well as purple eyes which usually shined with radiance and mischief. Now, they were completely serious. She wore an elaborate kimono.

Arashi, who was currently looking at the village in front of him through his windows, sighed as he turned to speak to the male who had just said those words.

"Yes, I am, Kaito. It's for the best."

The now identified Kaito continued to protest. "But father! He's still a complete stranger! I understand that you don't want to send him off to the streets or an orphanage, but here? There has to be a better option! You can-"

"Kaito," spoke the woman with a stern voice, making said individual look at her while she continued to look directly at Arashi who looked right back at her. "You know that when your father has made up his mind, there's almost nothing that can talk him out of it. Besides, like he said, this is for the best. You should know that too."

Kaito sighed as he closed his eyes. "You're not going to reconsider, are you?"

Arashi looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really not know your old man?"

Kaito released small laughs before calming himself. "What about Kushina? What are you going to tell her about this?"

A small smile formed itself on the woman's face at taking notice of this fact. 'Ah, so that's what you were really worried about.' It brought great joy to her hear seeing her older son taking care of his little sister.

Before Arashi could respond, the said redhead walked into the room, rubbing her eyes as she yawned. "What's everyone doing here?"

The woman immediately stood up as she walked towards the sleepy Kushina, picking her up with her arms. "What are you doing up so early?"

"I heard kaa-san and tou-san talking, and so I cam here," the young redhead explain as she yawned a second time.

"My little princess," said Arashi with a smile as he came around his desk to stand next to his wife, Kazumi. "I have some great news for you today!"

Now that cleared up any sleep that would have still been within the redhead. Her whole round face brightened. "Really! What is it!"

Arashi placed his hand on top of her head, rubbing it affectionately. "You'll be getting a new friend today."

Kushina exploded. "Awesome! What kind of friend is he, tou-san!"

But Kazumi looked at her husband in surprise. "He's already been released out of the hospital?"

Arashi nodded, still rubbing his daughter's head with said girl pouting at him for ignoring her. "That's right. Ryo-san gave me the okay earlier today. It seems as if the boy is already at one hundred percent. Almost as if what happened to him yesterday had never occurred. Kenji is escorting him over here right now."

"Now that is unusual," muttered Kazumi. Kaito had to agree with his mother as well. Heck, even Arashi did too. Only Kushina was left out of the loop who was still pouting at Arashi for still not answering her. Her cheeks were puffed out, trying her best to look angry. It failed miserably.

Arashi chuckled but before he could say something to calm his daughter, one of the servants knocked on the door before entering.

"What is it?" asked Arashi.

"Arashi-sama, Kenji-sama and Naruto-san have arrived. They're waiting for you at the entrance."

Arashi nodded before looking at Kazumi, offering her a smile. "Shall we?"

Kazumi rolled her eyes. It was far too late to be asking for her opinion. Still, she was interested to meet thing young boy. Who knew? Maybe he was simply a sweet little boy? But still, she wouldn't let her guard down. At least, not yet.

Kaito shared her thoughts.

With that, the Uzumaki family made for the stairs.

* * *

"Big, isn't it?"

Naruto had to admit that this Kenji person was certainly on the mark when he said 'big.' Who knew that his clan would have a mansion as big as this!

**"Heh, impressed with your clan already, are you, brat?"**

Naruto didn't have to answer that. They both knew the answer to that question. Now out of the hospital robe, the young blond now wore navy blue shorts, a basic blue shirt with an orange jacket over it, and blue sandals.

"Kenji, Naruto! Welcome!"

Both named individuals turned towards the top of the stairs that stood in front of them. Naruto's eyes widened as his eyes immediately spotted the familiar form of his mother next to the older woman as they descended down the stairs. But he managed to reign in his shock before anyone could notice him. Well dang. He wasn't expecting this. Not at all.

"Naruto, I would like you to meet my new family and, from now on, yours as well," stated Arashi with a smile and friendly tone. "I am Uzumaki Arashi."

The woman went next, a smile on her face as well as pure kindness radiating from her eyes which Naruto found to be extremely beautiful and almost hypnotizing. "I am Uzumaki Kazumi. It's a pleasure."

The old teenage boy followed. "I am Uzumaki Kaito. Welcome." Well, he didn't seem like a bad dude. But Naruto would refrain from judging him too quickly.

Kazumi nudged Kushina who was clinging to her foot. "Now, dear, introduce yourself."

Kushina didn't say anything for a few moments before finally screaming out, "My name is Uzumaki Kushina!"

Despite himself, a smile formed on the blond's face at hearing that.

Kazumi smiled as well as she looked at him expectantly. "Well? What is your name, dear?"

Naruto smiled widely as he pointed at himself, almost with the same enthusiasm as Kushina.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

* * *

**Well, woah, finally done!**

**Yes, I know. I'm back quicker than expected. But like I said on top, I just wanted to get one chapter in before kicking in the bucket. And no, I don't mean hiatus. But I really don't know when I'll next update this again. It won't be this year, that much I'm one hundred percent certain of.**

**That being said, happy early Christmas and New Years! Yeah, I won't be back until 2014. Meh, looking forward to it, I guess.**

**Now, there's just one last thing that I need to say before wrapping this up. And that is, yes there will be quite a few of OCs on Naruto's side. But you can't blame me. Kishimoto was the one who decided to not develop the Uzumakis in the slightest for whatever reason. As a result, I'm working on pure imagination here. Although there will be a few OCs on Sasuke's side too. Not as much as Naruto's though, but hey, that's just how things are I guess.**

**That's all I have to say. Hope you enjoyed it.**

**Till next year!**


	3. The Academy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama**

* * *

**Chapter 2:  
The Academy  
**

'This cannot be happening….'

**"Deal with it, brat."**

'No! The Sennin said that I had to save the world, not go through _this_! It's inhumane! I'd rather take the teme's Chidori through my chest again than go through with this! Or maybe even go head to head with the Juubi again! Point is, anything is better than this….this _monster_!'

**"You're overreacting. It's not that bad….once you get used to it.'**

'Tch, that's because you get to take a nap, you lazy ass fox! I have to sit through it wide awake! Whatever. I'm not going through with this. Gramps can just forget it. I had to sit through this hell hole once, the hell I'm going back to it again!'

**"So you're going to risk everything just because you're scared?"**

'I'm not scared….'

**"Just get on it with it then! Or I swear I'll make you start dreaming about there being no more ramen left in the world! And you know I'm very much capable of doing that."**

Naruto grumbled quietly to himself as he walked behind Kazumi, who he now knew was really his grandmother, with Kushina walking right next to her, holding hands. The young blond was currently contemplating about his chances of success if he ran off. After all, the place they were heading to was….was the academy!

The blond had been so happy to have finally gotten rid of it and of never going back to it again, but now, through some horrible twist of fate, he had to go back again!

'Why am I even made to go anyways? I'm pretty sure I can kick any of the teachers' ass! There's nothing they can teach me at this point.'

That much was true. It seemed that even if he had become a little kid again, he had still retained every single of his abilities, something which he found out the night before when he had tested himself at the edge of the island nation. The only thing which he hadn't used was Kurama's chakra for obvious reasons. The most obvious one being the entire clan sensing the sudden surge of chakra and coming after his ass. That being said, it had been two days since the blond Uzumaki had woken up in the past. Two days since he finally met the family that he had never thought that existed, mainly his grandparents and uncle. He had a freaking uncle! Who would have thought?

'I wonder why kaa-chan never mentioned them…..' the blond wondered, completely forgetting about the academy issue even as he subconsciously continued to walk towards his impending doom.

**"Do I need to remind you of the circumstances in which you two even met in the first place? You were trying to control my power, brat. Not to mention that she had limited time since the moment that the seal's function to release her became into effect."**

Naruto chuckled sheepishly in his mind at the reminder. 'Yeah, now thinking about it, I guess you're right. It wasn't like I was ever going to meet them anyways. Or well, that was how it was supposed to be. I'm pretty sure that kaa-chan wouldn't have ever dreamed of me coming back to the past when she was a little kid. The same for tou-san as well….'

Kurama waved his tails in a bored manner. **"I wouldn't be surprised if he did. The Yondaime has always had a nag at surprising me at every turn. But considering just how we ended up here in the first place, I guess that you're right. Really, when I saw the bright light, I thought that maybe it was just the Juubi going to blow us all up. Not this. I'm not about to complain at our luck though."**

Naruto chucked. 'That makes two of us, Kurama. That makes two of us….'

The bijuu smirked. **"Oi, what about your 'predicament,' brat? Cause it looks like we have arrived."**

Naruto's eyes widened at the reminder. Damn, how could he have gotten off track!? And true to Kurama's words, a huge building came into view which was undoubtedly the shinobi academy in Uzu, if parents dropping their kids off was any indication.

'Gah, I've got to skip somehow! Don't worry, Naruto. You've outran Iruka-sensei before. I'm sure this will be a piece of cake!'

Kurama chimed in. **"If I recall this correctly, wasn't he the one person who always found you all the time?"**

Naruto t'ched. 'Not helping me here, ya dumb fox!'

Said fox raised an eyebrow, not that Naruto could see it. **"Who says that I'm even trying to?"** He then shook his head. **"Just forget it, brat, and accept your fate already!" **But the bijuu knew that that was just wishful thinking. Wait, did he just sound like that Hyuuga buddy of Naruto's? Damn. He really needed to watch what he said from now on.

Luckily for him, Naruto was currently too freaked out to even notice his slip up.

"Naruto-kun, I hope that you're not thinking about skipping out now."

Naruto both gulped and shuddered at the overly sweet tone in which those words were said. It reminded him a lot of how Tsunade or Sakura would say things before sending him flying a couple of blocks, maybe miles if they tried hard enough. And if there was something that that had taught him was to be weary of the 'sweet tone' as he had so dubbed it. It spelled impending doom for him.

Looking at Kazumi, who was also his grandmother even if she didn't know it, Naruto shook his head quickly. "A-ah, no of course not, Kazuma-baachan! What makes you think that?" It seemed that habits died hard too. Despite himself, Naruto found himself calling the woman in front of him 'baa-chan,' something which said woman didn't seem to mind. It also brought a surge of joy into the blond's heart. Even if he hadn't met her, the woman was still his grandmother. He was just glad that he had the chance to call her that even if she didn't know how true the title went.

Kazumi simply sent him a smile which let the blond know that she didn't believe him for a second. "Oh, I see. Well, good. Because I'm going to need you to look after Kushina-chan from now on. You two are like family now!"

Said redhead grumbled to herself at hearing that. It wasn't like she needed protection. She was eight! And if she could curse, she would have said dammit with that statement!

Now that a brought a serene smile on the blond's face before quickly wiping it off from his face. Unfortunately for him, Kazumi had caught it. But she interpreted it in a whole different way. After all, as far as she and the others were concerned, Naruto was an orphan, something which wasn't entirely false. So she only assumed that he was happy to be part of a family.

Naruto nodded as he walked towards the gate that led into the playground of the academy, a still grumbling Kushina walking beside him. "Don't worry, baa-chan! You can count on me!" he exclaimed as he sent her a wave. The older redhead merely waved back, a smile on her face.

On the inside, however, Naruto was spilling his guts out in tears. 'How could it come to this!?'

Kurama could only laugh to himself.

**"Welcome back to hell, brat."**

Ah, it was good to be alive.

* * *

Kazumi continued to wave at the two until they were inside the building. It had been two days since Naruto had moved with them due to her husband's plan of keeping his eyes on the boy until they knew one hundred percent that he was clear. And she had to say, she was growing fond of the blond whiskered boy. Even if she did have her suspicions about him in the beginning, they were now almost completely gone. All of her defenses had shut down with her motherly side coming into the picture.

'In just two days,' the Uzumaki matriarch thought to herself as she made her way back to her house with many passersby waving at her along the way. She was well known to all of the Uzumaki clan. It just showed how close the clan was to each other. Even if they were now an independent nation and in huge numbers, they still tried to keep their tradition of always being close with one another no matter what. That ran true even for the clan leader. It was specially so. It was one of the important requirements to even be chosen, heck even considered for that matter. And her husband was certainly well adapted for that. He could make friends with just about anyone.

It seemed that little Naruto had that gift too. Even Kaito was starting to like the blond, and the recently promoted jonin didn't get close with just anybody, lest of all in the short span of two days!

Still, Kazumi was sure that Arashi still had a few suspicions left even after seeing what kind of person Naruto was. And so did she. One of the major questions she had dealt with Naruto's recuperating prowess. It was short of amazing! No, beyond that. What would have taken a normal person days to recover from only took him a day! Especially with the kind of damage that the doctor had said that Naruto's body had sustained. Which also brought the question of just how Naruto even ended up floating at sea like that. Was he perhaps in a trip with his parents at sea before his ship got attacked by pirates? Or maybe something on the other extreme like being a slave to some underground group before trying to escape and ending up at sea in the process. It would certainly explain the being naked part.

But the problem was that it seemed that the young blond had amnesia. He couldn't remember anything at all from before he woke up at the hospital. And Arashi wasn't ready to use any other more forceful methods to figure out if the blond boy was telling the truth. At least, not yet. Since Naruto had shown no signs of possibly being a spy or anything of the like, Arashi didn't see the problem with waiting for little Naruto to regain his memories if he indeed had amnesia. The only problem with that was that amnesia was always too unpredictable. It could range from lasting just a couple of hours to never disappearing with the person's memories never coming back.

One way or another, though, Kazumi only hoped that if this was the true Naruto that he could stay with them indefinitely. The redhead chuckled at that. Okay, so she had gotten a lot more attached to the young boy than she had imagined. But she wasn't all too surprised. Naruto's personality was just that rich that one couldn't help but be drawn into it. She also hoped that it would bring out her daughter from her shell.

The thought caused for her to sigh. If there was one thing that she always regretted, it was the way in which she had raised her daughter. No, even Arashi claimed responsibility for that. They had spoiled her too much. Heck, they still did! But it wasn't like either could help themselves. They loved her too much. Even Kaito had stated the problem before. But Kazumi could see through the facade. He was her son, after all. He loved Kushina a lot even if he didn't like to show it or admit it.

And as a result of their spoiling, Kushina had becalmed a bit arrogant with others. Just because she was the daughter of the clan head and ultimately, the village. So she didn't really have any friends as a result. If only Naruto could somehow break through that somehow. But she knew that she was also being sort of irresponsible by dumping what should be her problem to a little boy whom she had just met two days ago. But it was her solution. The only solution she could think of.

Well, she could only hope.

* * *

Naruto could only internally sigh at his current predicament. Really, after everything that he had done, couldn't Kami at least spare him a little? Why did this have to happen instead? Well, even he knew that despite all of the power that he now had, nothing could save him from this particular horrible fate.

"If you would please introduce yourself to the rest of the class."

Naruto bit his tongue to prevent himself from replying with a smart ass comment. He didn't know why, but the blond had the feeling that he was becoming worse ever since he found out that he now had to attend the academy.

Kurama decided to not add his own two cents in. He could already tell that his host was irritated enough. Even he knew when to not cross the line. Unfortunately, this was one of those moments.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. It's a pleasure, I guess."

The rest of the class in front of him burst into his hush whispers at his introduction. Naruto could only pick out a few comments like "Are those whiskers on his cheeks?" or "Is he really an Uzumaki? He must have parents from outside of the clan or something" were just a few.

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched. So what if he didn't have red hair? It was his father's fault, not his! Besides, he liked his hair. Not that he would have minded if he had the same hair as his mother either. Even now, he could make it out perfectly. The fact that she was sitting just a few steps away from him certainly helped as well.

Said redhead was currently turned away from him, looking to the side as if to avoid eye contact with him. And Naruto realized that that was just exactly what she was trying to do!

Now that brought his spirit down. If there was one thing that shocked him even more than finding out that he had an even bigger family than he had realized before was just how exactly this Kushina acted. She was just like a female version of Sasuke! Well, maybe not as bad but certainly the closest comparison he could make. That, or how Neji used to be save for the fate stuff. This still confused him even now.

**"It shouldn't be, brat. You have to realize just how blessed your mother is at this point in her life. She has it all. She's the daughter of the clan head and consequently the daughter of the village leader. It's no surprise that she grew up to be like this. Well, for now at least. It's true what some say when they say that having it all isn't exactly for the best."**

Naruto had to agree with Kurama on that. Still, she was his mother. He wasn't about to hate her for acting like….well, a kid! Because really, that was just what she was right now.

The chunnin standing next to Naruto quieted everyone down, lest the whispering continue. "All right. Naruto, you may seat next to Haru over there."

Naruto saw a timid looking boy perk up on the second to last row of the class near the far of the room at hearing the name being called, making the blond realize that he was Haru.

Nodding, Naruto made his way to where his new assigned seat awaited, all the eyes of the class following. He glanced at Kushina along the way only to see the redhead still looking away from him. Sighing as he sat down, Naruto mentally thanked Kami as the eyes of the others in the class finally stopped looking at him as the instructor in front of the room began his lecture of the day, something about the many uses of chakra.

The blond tuned him out as he glanced around the room, trying to find something to keep him occupy for the next eight hours or so. But even he knew that he wouldn't find something like that, least of all in a classroom of all places.

'Oi, Kurama. You there, ya furball?' He tried contacting the nine tailed bijuu for a few minutes only to get no response. He was about to scream in his mind again until he caught the sound of snoring. Sweatdropping, Naruto placed his head on his desk as he started to grumble about the injustice of it all.

It was then that Naruto caught the boy next to him, Haru if he remembered correctly, glancing at him with open curiosity. Let it be known to all that Uzumaki Naruto was most certainly not one for subtly.

"Can I help you?"

The boy named Haru jumped up from his seat in surprise, making the chunnin in front of the class to stop his lecture.

Seeing this, Haru quickly bowed and apologize. "S-sorry, sensei! I-I just thought I saw a bird outside the window."

The chunnin sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "Yes, well, do try to be paying attention _inside_ of the classroom this time, Haru. And don't interrupt the class again."

"Hai!"

With that, everything returned to how it had been with the exception of a few snickers from around them. Haru sighed to himself as he sat back down.

Naruto chuckled to himself. "Did I surprise you or something?" he asked in a hushed voice.

Haru nodded, looking at him. "Y-yeah. I'd thought that you were asleep or something."

Naruto could tell right then and there that he had found the Uzumaki male version of Hinata. Whether that was a good thing or not, he didn't know yet.

"Well, I wasn't. So? Why were you staring at me?"

An embarrassed blush formed itself on the boy's face as he scratched the back of his head, looking to the side. "It's just that tou-sama told me how there would be a new student in my class today. S-so I got curious. I mean, you don't look like an Uzumaki."

Naruto leaned in to get a better look at the boy, making said boy squirm nervously under the blond's gaze. "W-what is it?"

Naruto continued to stare at him for a few more seconds until it finally clicked in his head. "You're old man is Kenji-ojiichan, isn't it!?"

The blond jinchuriki could now see the resemblance between the two after having studied Haru a bit more. They had the same hair, same eyes, and their faces were kinda the same as well. The only differences were the childish look and the clothing he wore which consisted of a pair of white shorts with with an olive green shirt and blue shinobi sandals. But how could this kind of guy be the son of that man? They were complete opposites in attitude! It was almost frightening to say the least.

Haru could only nod. "Y-you know him?"

Naruto nodded as well, an excited look on his face as he tried his best to keep his voice lowered. "Yeah. He's pretty cool."

Haru smiled at the praise. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad that I got him as a father…."

Naruto eyed him as a momentary look of regret passed through Haru's face before it was gone like as if it had never existed. Naruto could tell that he was hiding something. After all, he himself had hid his pain for the longest of times before meeting Iruka. So he could pick up on small details like that. Well, it wouldn't be right to ask him about something like that. At least, not at the moment. They had just met, after all. Maybe when they were closer. And Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind being friends with this boy even if he was a bit shy and soft spoken.

Extending his hand towards him, Naruto grinned, the grin almost splitting his face in half. "Nice to meet you. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Haru looked at the extended hand in surprise before bringing his forward as well, smiling back at him.

"I'm Uzumaki Haru. Nice to meet you too, Naruto-san."

Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind the academy too much.

* * *

Arashi sighed as he leaned back on his chair in his office. It was now noon, so it was around this time that the academy would be off for the students' lunch break. But really, he was thinking about this because today was also Naruto's first day at the academy. He was anxious to see how the blond would do.

It also made him realize how he would be acting if Naruto really was his son, the same way in which he had acted when both Kushina and Kaito went to the academy for their first day. Despite his best of efforts. he really was too soft when it came to his children, Kushina even more so than he had been with Kaito. He had tried to change once about a year ago when he and Kazumi had realized just how much pampering Kushina was affecting her, but he had failed. Epically. It hadn't even been a day before he cracked.

And so the strongest shinobi in Uzu failed before his only daughter. Even so, she was his princess. He would do anything for her.

A knock on his door made the aging Uzumaki come out of his thoughts. "Come in."

A moment later, his only son walked in. Uzumaki Kaito sent his father a wave as he stood in front of his desk, still wearing the Uzu jonin uniform which was, at its core, the same as Konoha's uniform except that instead of the green vest it was blue. And of course, his blue headband had a swirl on it rather than a leaf which one found on the one from Konoha.

Arashi could say without hesitation at how proud he had been when Kaito had been promoted to jonin just barely two months ago at the age of nineteen. While it wasn't the best record out there, it was certainly better than most out there.

"I see you're working hard," the young jonin commented with some mirth as he glanced at the pile of paperwork which was stacked to the side.

Arashi grumbled to himself. "Trust me, if I had known that _this _is what the job entailed, I would have thought twice about taking it."

Kaito chuckled. "But you still would have taken it. That's just how you are."

Arashi himself laughed. "Ha, it seems that you really do know your old man quite well."

Kaito grinned slightly at that before looking out the window towards the village. "I'm guessing you know why I'm here."

Arashi nodded as he leaned back some more on his chair. "Yes. It's Naruto."

Kaito nodded as he turned to look at his father, his hands in his pockets. "There's something…..odd about him. I can sense this immense power coming from him that's just hidden, but I can't really tell what it is."

Arashi could only sigh. "You're not the only one. Even if it does seem like his intentions aren't bad, there's still too many mysteries about how he ended here for my liking. But…."

"You're not going to use any extreme means to find them," finished Kaito for him.

Arashi nodded. "Exactly. I'd already made up my mind to kill him if he did turn out to be a spy or something of the sort. But even though it's only been two days, I'm really starting to doubt whether that's the case at this point."

Kaito nodded as well as he closed his eyes. "Believe me, you're not the only one. Even mother has taken a liking to him. And you know how hard it is to do that….."

'You're not one to talk,' thought Arashi in amusement. That was something that Kaito had inherited from his mother: her stubbornness. Of course, he did a better job at hiding it since he had more self control, but those few that did know him personally knew that it was there. Of course, he still loved him. And how could he not? It was one of the things that made him fall for Kazumi in the first place.

Stroking his long beard, something which he was extremely proud of, Arashi hummed. "At any rate, I have a feeling that we'll have plenty of time to figure things out with our new addition to the family."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Are you really thinking about doing what I think you're going to do?"

Arashi nodded. "Yes. I plan to make Naruto a part of our family as my son. Congratulations, Kaito. You'll be getting the brother you always wanted when you were a little kid."

Kaito looked to the side, an embarrassed look on his face. "Don't just bring that up all of a sudden." He then looked at his father in the eyes. "Are you sure you're not doing all of this too quickly? I admit it, he's not as bad as I first thought he would be. But it's only been two days! He could just be faking all of this somehow. And then we'll have-"

"Kaito."

Kaito stopped as he heard the seriousness present in his father's voice. It was rare for his father to use that tone, so when he did, he knew to listen because whatever it was that he needed to say was most definitely of great importance.

"What is it?"

Arashi looked as serious as he sounded. "I'm about to tell you something which I haven't told anyone else yet, not even your mother. Only you and Kenji will know of this….for now. At the very least until I can piece all of this together."

Okay, now he was scaring Kaito. "Don't be like that, old man. What is it already?"

Arashi paused for a few seconds before carrying on with his explanation. "During the few hours in which Naruto was unconscious, I had Ryo-san take some of the boy's blood for studies to make sure that there wasn't anything else wrong with him other than the other apparent injuries."

Kaito was silent, opting for letting his father continue.

"Yesterday, Ryo-san called me in because he said that he had something important to tell me about what he had found from Naruto's blood. Of course, my first reaction was to think that the boy had something else wrong with him even though he looks as healthy as any other boy at his age. But instead of that it was the exact opposite."

The suspense was killing Kaito by this point. Why couldn't his father just come out and say it instead of building up the suspense? It was nerve wrecking to say the least.

Sensing this, Arashi carried on. "When I got there, the good doctor looked as if he was as white as the snow. Like I'd said before, I immediately assumed the worst. But he told me what exactly it was that he had discovered, and it took me by surprise as well."

Arashi paused for a second before finally coming out with it. "It seems as if our new resident is also an Uzumaki like us both."

Kaito's eyes widened at hearing what sounded like a ridiculous statement to him. "A-are you serious!?" At Arashi's nod, he exploded. "But how can that be!? If he were an Uzumaki, we would have a record of him somewhere! No one's ever even heard of him! Not only that, but he's a blond! There is just no way that he can be an Uzumaki!"

Arashi nodded at all of the points. "That's exactly what the doctor and I first thought as well. But the results are unmistakable. Of course, it doesn't seem like he's one hundred percent Uzumaki, so that would explain the blond hair. He's more than likely part Uzumaki and part….well something else."

"That still doesn't make any sense!" exclaimed Kaito with a shake of his head. "No one from the clan has ever had any relationships with someone that's _not _from the clan! It's to protect our techniques and our bloodline. And I'm pretty sure that no one has broken that rule. And if someone were stupid enough to do that, we would have known about it!"

Arashi nodded again. "I know. But we don't. So perhaps someone did manage to do this somehow, and the end result is the boy. But that still doesn't explain how he ended up here the way he did."

Kaito shook his head. "It doesn't explain anything. There's still too many variables. Has Ryo compared the boy's blood with the others' from the clan?"

"That's what I told him to do next," replied Arashi. "If someone has broken this law somehow, it mustn't go unpunished. Not only that, but it's obvious that if this indeed happened, then the person abandoned the boy. And that is even _more _unforgivable."

Kaito could agree with his father on that one. It wasn't like any of this was Naruto's fault either. Kaito could now see why his father had decided to take the young blond in. After all, through some impossible way, it seemed as if Naruto was one of them. But that still left the question as to how. How could that be? And whose son was he in the first place?

"We have to look into this," he stated.

Arashi nodded as he stood up from his chair, walking towards the widows to look at the village which his clan had founded and placing his hands on his back.

"I know. That is why I told Kenji this. I've asked his help in aiding us at finding just who is responsible for this. Of course, with Ryo-san's search as well, it won't be long before we find the answer. But it's never too bad to have all the help that you can get."

Kaito simply looked at his father, knowing full well that he agreed with him. He could also see why he hadn't told his mother yet. If she knew that someone had abandoned Naruto just like that, there was no telling what she would do. Get on her good side, and you would get a valuable friend. Get on her bad side and consider yourself dead.

Still, even Kaito himself couldn't wait to find who was responsible. The blond had gotten to him as well, even if he wouldn't admit it.

A comfortable silence reign between father and son, knowing full well that they now had a goal in mind. And they would accomplish it.

* * *

If there was one thing that Naruto had learned in the past few hours, it was that Haru, despite being a direct relative to Kenji, was far from being the outgoing person that his father was. Despite that, though, Naruto could see that Haru did have some strong character to him hidden beneath the exterior shyness and secluding attitude that he showed all of the time.

It was just….odd. Really, he couldn't find any other way to describe it but that. Even so, Naruto could tell that he wouldn't mind hanging out with the shy redhead. He was certainly a lot better than some of the other students that he had seen so far in the day. Needless to say, he had seen how they had picked on the boy and by default him as well because he was hanging out with him in the first place. He had sent them packing of course, but that was beside the point. It seemed that as if it really didn't matter where one went. There were always assholes.

"You should learn how to fight back, you know."

Haru glanced at him as they sat together under one of the few trees that were inside the schoolyard or rather a playground as Naruto saw it. Needless to say, it bored him. Despite looking like an eight year old, the blond still had the mind of a sixteen year old. So games made for eight year olds wouldn't amuse him at this point.

"I've learned to live with it," the redhead stated with no remorse. "I would just paint a bigger target on my head if I were to fight back. And what's the point? I'd rather just be in the background…."

Naruto eyed him for a moment before slapping him the back, causing for Haru to jolt in surprise. "Ma, don't worry about it anymore! You got me now!"

Haru looked at him in surprise. "You….y-you want to be my friend?"

Naruto nodded, looking as carefree as ever as he placed his hands behind his head and leaned back into the trunk of the tree. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Haru looked to the side. "I'm not really all that cool…."

The blond frowned. "You shouldn't really let others judge you. Your opinion about yourself should come first. Besides, I think you're cool."

Haru turned to him in surprise.

Seeing this, the whiskered blond grinned. "That's right. The one not cool here is me. But you? Not in a million years."

Haru broke down in slight laughter. "You're really weird, you know that right?"

Naruto shrugged as he looked to the side. "I've been told that before….." he muttered with a look of remembrance. Haru in turn looked at him with a look of curiosity before Naruto shook it off. The blond jinchuriki was about to continue before someone beat him to the punch.

"You're really weird."

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched. Okay, so he wasn't the average shinobi….or kid. But still, did _everyone _have to comment on it or what?

Looking to where the voice had come from, Naruto found one of the girls from his new class, the thought still made him shudder, standing before and looking at him with a grin of her face. Like many others, the girl had striking red hair except that unlike his mother's which reached all the way down her back, this girl's hair stopped just above her shoulders. Also as striking were her eyes which looked to be dark blue, almost an icy tint to them. She was wearing black shorts with a plain black t-shirt and blue shinobi sandals. On her wrists were also white wristbands with red swirls on them and, even though Naruto couldn't see it, the Uzumaki crest was printed on the back of her t-shirt.

"And who are you?"

The girl continued to grin. "Uzumaki Aika. It's a pleasure, whiskers."

Something told Naruto that this girl was going to be calling him that for the rest of their lives. And he didn't like it. Okay…..maybe he didn't mind it that much.

Next to the blond, Haru looked on in surprise at seeing the girl talking to them. "Y-you're Aika! Why are you talking to us? I thought that you didn't talk to anyone!"

Aika hummed slightly as she dropped next to Naruto, making said blond scoot to the side to make room for her. "Is that one of those other rumors that the my oh so dearest classmates have spread?"

Haru merely nodded with Naruto looking to and forth between them. Hey, it was his first day. He wasn't expected to know the social ranking here. In his days, he had been at the bottom, so he could imagine that perhaps it was the same with the two sitting on both of his sides. Damn, that made him sound old. 'In his days….' He needed to stop talking like that for future reference.

The newly named Aika shrugged. "I just don't get along with the other girls is all. I mean, all they talk about is pointless things. I've got better thing to do with my life."

Wow. Did this girl know how to talk or what? The same thing could be said about Haru for that matter. It seemed that the blond had found himself an interesting pair. That was good. He didn't know how long he would have lasted without some partners in crime.

Aika then pointed at Haru. "What about you, though? I've never seen you talk with anyone else either except with whiskers here today."

Naruto twitched at the name. "Would you mind _not _calling me that?"

Aika merely shrugged before looking at Haru who shifted uncomfortably.

"It's nothing much. It's just that I don't really mix with the other boys in the class."

Aika grinned. "Then we're in the same position. I thought maybe you were just arrogant like the princess over there." She finished while pointing to Kushina who was surrounded by an entire group of girls. Kami knew what it was that they were even talking about.

Naruto sighed. His mother at this time was really different than he had expected all right. And in his opinion, it wasn't for the better.

Haru looked at her with wide eyes. "M-me? Arrogant!? How!"

Aika could only shrug yet again. "Dunno. But I'm starting to think it's more along the lines of being shy…."

Naruto sweatdropped. "How could you not have noticed that?"

Aika looked at him. "I don't really pay attention in class. Most of the things that they're teaching us is not really useful."

Now that got Naruto interested. Leaning in with a grin, Naruto asked, "And how would you know that?"

Aika grinned back at him. "My father was a jonin, so he's been teaching me some stuff that aren't really meant to be taught to kids our age."

"You too?"

Both Naruto and Aika looked at Haru.

Aika pointed at him. "You're dad's teaching you too?" At Haru's nod, the only girl in the group grinned. "Well, I'm just glad that I'm not the only one doing the extra work then."

Both boys knew just what exactly Aika meant. And it wasn't just about doing the extra training. Looking around at the other kids in the playground, Naruto had to pity both Aika and Haru. They were being made to grow up a lot faster than the other kids here. And while that wasn't an entirely bad thing, it also made them almost inefficient to make friends with the other kids in the class. The only thing that had kept them from them talking to each other was Haru's shyness and Aika's attitude. Or as far as the blond jinchuriki could see anyways.

Haru scratched one of his cheeks in a Naruto-like fashion, an embarrassed blush on his face. "I-I didn't know that you were this cool. I always imagined you to be this scary girl honestly."

Aika simply shrugged in a dismissing manner. "Don't worry. So does everyone else here." Seeing the boy about to apologize, Aika quickly added, "Like I said, don't worry about it. I'm the one that puts up that image in the first place. Besides, I always mistook you for being arrogant, so we're both at fault here. If it wasn't for whiskers here I probably would have never talked to you."

'Whiskers' raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why did you start talking to us?" It wasn't like he minded. He was just curious.

Aika rubbed one of her arms as she looked to the side. "W-well, because I was hoping you would be my friend…." she mumbled. But both Naruto and Haru caught it.

Naruto looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

Aika nodded, finally looking at him. "Really, really. You don't seem like the others here. And I really don't have any friends either as you can see," she admitted bluntly, not at least looking as if that fact bothered her at all.

But Naruto could see that it did. If there was one thing that he had learned the most from Kakashi was to look underneath the underneath. It also helped that he had personal experience regarding the matter. The single fact that she even came to talk to them out of the blue in the manner that she did was proof enough which showed that she really did want friends. It didn't matter if it was just one or two, as long as the concept was there. And it seemed that to her Naruto was the best candidate for that from all of the other kids in the academy. Naruto realized that it had to do mainly in the manner in which she was being brought up, which was entirely different from the rest excluding Haru. Even Kushina was different from her. At this time, she really was just a simple kid. And while that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, her personally just wouldn't sit well with Aika's. At least, not this Kushina's.

Naruto sent her one of his famous grins as he scratched the back of his head. It was one of his life long habits. "Well, I don't really know what I did to make you think like that, but I don't mind getting another friend."

The sudden surge of happiness which showed itself on the girl's face from hearing that caused for Naruto to blush, something which said blond didn't even know that he was doing.

Haru looked at Naruto in surprise again. "Another friend?"

Naruto sent him a thumbs up. "Yeah. I mean, I already told you. You and me are already friends. Right? And I'm sure Aika-chan wouldn't mind being included in that."

Aika nodded, showing her agreement. She completely dismissed that Naruto was now adding -chan to her name. It was a completely new experience for her, but she didn't really mind.

Haru looked at his hands, shifting uncomfortably. "I-I see…."

Naruto slapped his back for a second time, causing for the boy to yelp in surprise again. "C'mon. Don't get all emo on us. That's just not cool."

Haru nodded, rubbing his shoulder like Aika had done. "S-sorry. I'm just not that social either."

Naruto grinned. "Then that just means we're perfect for each other!"

Aika placed a finger on her chin, a thoughtful look on her face. "The outcasts of our class…." She shrugged. "Yeah, I can see that. I don't mind it."

Haru looked at them both in surprise before looking the other way, nodding his head once more. "O-ok…."

Naruto cheered as he jumped to his feet, patting his shorts in order to get some of the dirt that had accumulated itself from his having sat down on the bare ground.

"Then it's settled!" He turned to them both. "We're now friends!"

The instructor had come outside at this point, yelling that break was over with and that it was time for class to resume. But Naruto didn't mind. Normally, that would have brought his spirits down. That was how much he hated class. But now, in his first day and in just a span of few hours, he had managed to find himself some new friends.

'Not bad Uzumaki….'

Looking for his mother, he found her walking back to class alone, the group of girls having had left her at some point. Now, if only he could find someway to make his mother come out of her shell too. It was obvious to him at this point that she didn't really have any real friends. Those girls were probably just hanging with her because she was the daughter of the clan head. Naruto had spent many times observing this with Sakura and Ino in his first and true youth, so he knew he was right in the money. He would find a way to befriend her, though. Let it be known that Uzumaki Naruto was not one to give up so easily, or ever.

Aika was in front of him in a flash, grabbing hold of his hand as she pulled both him and Haru back to class. "C'mon you two! Don't be such slowpokes."

Both Naruto and Haru merely looked at each other, both grinning.

Like before, Naruto realized that he wouldn't mind the place. It was going to be a good day.

* * *

Inside Naruto's subconscious, one nine tailed bijuu merely watched all of the proceedings in silence. So, the brat had already found himself some friends, eh? Really, it shouldn't have surprised him in the least. That was just the kind of person that Naruto was. It didn't take the blond too much time before he could make friends. He himself was a prime example of that even if he didn't like to admit it.

Resting his head on top of his paws, Kurama cracked one eye open as he immediately sensed a new presence inside his little domain in Naruto's mind.

**"I didn't expect to see you here so soon, old man."**

The Rikudo Sennin chuckled as he stood before the towering bijuu, even if said bijuu was lying down at the moment.

"Yes, well, I just wanted to personally see how Naruto is handling his new home."

Kurama continued to look at him. **"We both know that's not the entire reason you're here.**" Raising his head, the fox released a sigh. **"I take it you're here to tell me about my other self…."**

The Sennin grinned. "Oh, don't worry, Kurama. I'm not here to deliver you any bad news. That would be a bad thing on my part. Especially with what I put you and all of your other brothers through. On the contrary, it's good news. Consider this my gift to you."

Kurama looked at him in surprise. **"What are you talking about?"**

The Sennin began to pace around the bijuu. "You immediately assumed that because I didn't tell you what would happen to you when you and Naruto got here that it was going to be bad news. Well, you assumed incorrectly."

**"But how!? Two beings can't exist in the same time! It's unnatural! It breaks the natural rules of the universe itself!"**

The Sennin stopped his pacing and looked up to meet the bijuu's crimson eyes. There was complete kindness in the Sennin's eyes and face altogether as he began to explain.

"Under normal circumstances, that would be true, yes. But these aren't normal circumstances, Kurama. The fact that Naruto and Sasuke even survived the brake is against the rules of the universe in of itself. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the rules aren't being applied to these two. They're a special case. And now, a special case is being given to you."

Kurama simply looked at the being who as like a father figure to him in silence. Finally, he spoke, **"Just how are you doing this, old man? I never once knew that you could accomplish any of this, no matter how strong you are. All of this is just….beyond everything!"**

The Sennin nodded. "You're exactly correct in that. Even I don't have that kind of power. No matter how much I was revered as a god, I'm still human. As such, even I have my limitations. The only difference is that those limitations are higher than a normal human being."

**"Then how?"**

The Sennin raised up his free hand. "Don't worry about that right now. At the moment, we're still at a critical stage. Both Naruto and Sasuke can't mess up right now, or it will have terrible consequences for what we're planning on happening. But like I've said, you don't have to worry about you disappearing. You and Naruto now exist beyond that plane. The same could be said about Sasuke."

Kurama could only look at him in silence, not knowing what to say. For once in a long time, the bijuu found himself at a loss of words as to what to make of the current situation. From the moment that the Sennin had told him what he was planning on having Sasuke and Naruto do, he had come to terms that he would most like cease to exist. But if it helped Naruto with his goal, then he didn't mind.

Damn, he never thought that he would ever feel that way. Good thing Shukaku wasn't around to see it.

"Now, I must be going," the Sennin stated as he continued to look up at Kurama. "I only came here to ease your worries. Right now, Sasuke needs my help more than Naruto does. I'm sure that you two will be able to deal with the first obstacle that will soon present itself to you both. Oh, and one final thing…."

The Sennin sent him a wave as he started to disappear. "Be mindful next time about the seal. You're lucky that it no longer exists, or the Uzumakis would have figured out that you're in here."

Kurama's eyes widened at that particular detail. But before he could ask the Sennin what he meant, said individual had already disappeared.

The giant fox looked at the spot where the old man had been before lowering his head back down to rest it on top of his paws, trying to understand just how the seal was now gone; and what the old man had meant by saying how Naruto, him, and the Uchiha were longer considered to be in this plane; and just what the first so called obstacle would be.

Most of all, though, he was trying to figure out who the old man meant when he said 'we.' Who else was involved in this?

So many questions, and the bijuu realized that he had few clues to figure out the answers.

* * *

Naruto had to suppress a sigh as he walked alongside Kushina towards the gate that led outside of the academy. The reason for his sigh was due to Kushina's refusal to talk to him. Really, the only thing that the young redhead had ever told him directly was her name. After that, nothing. Nada. It was depressing to say the least.

"I'll see you later, whiskers!"

Naruto simply waved back at Aika who was now walking with a man that Naruto presumed to be her father. Watching her leave made Naruto remember that he had a great day all things consider. He had met interesting new people. The only downside was Kushina's attitude.

"Of all days for kaa-chan to be late…." he heard her mutter. Naruto glanced at her as they waited by the gates. Most of the other kids had already left as well. Naruto could see that there was definite displeasure in her face.

The blond jinchuriki scratched his cheek. "So…."

Kushina turned to look at him with a blank look. Well, this was awkward. Damn, just what could he say?

**"You're not really a smooth talker, are you, brat?"**

Well, look who had decided to finally wake the hell up? But Naruto could argue with the furball later. Right now, he had to figure out a way to break the ice with his mother. Or future mother…..whatever. Point was, now he had a great chance at doing so. He just hoped that his also future grandmother took a bit longer to get here than normal.

"What do you want?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, feeling completely uneasy with the tone that the redhead in front of him was using. Really, even if it was a younger version of the woman whom he had met in his seal when he had fought Kurama, the blond had never expected to ever be the recipient of such indifference from her. It kinda hurt.

"Well…..I've just been having this feeling that you don't like me and all…."

Understatement of the year. It was proven to be so by Kurama's snort at hearing that.

Kushina continued to look at him in silence for a few more moments before huffing as she turned her back to him, her small arms crossed in front of her.

"That's because you're not family. So I don't see why kaa-chan and tou-san would even bring you in the first place. You're just some random boy!"

"I see…."

Naruto turned his back to her as well, trying to hide the frown that was present in his face. Really, he knew that it was only childish jealousy. Still, to hear her say that he wasn't family…it really did hurt him, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama simply closed his eyes, having lost interest in the conversation with Kushina, if he could even call the girl that. He knew that the girl resembled nothing to the one that he had met for the first time. But to change so much….

**'It must have been the destruction of Uzu,'** realized the bijuu before his eyes snapped wide open.

_"I'm sure that you two will be able to deal with the first obstacle that will soon present itself to you both."_

**'No….the old man couldn't have possibly meant that….'**

Back in the real world, Kushina glanced at Naruto, trying to see why he wasn't responding. And instead of seeing Naruto trying to come up with a comeback, all the young girl saw was Naruto's back as his whole demeanor expressed unhappiness.

Now Kushina started to doubt herself. Her mother had always taught her to not bring other people down. But it was something which she couldn't help but do. After all, that was all that people ever saw her as. 'The daughter of clan head.' Nothing more. Even with kids her own age, they were afraid of getting too close to her lest they make 'the daughter of the clan head' angry. It was one of the reasons why she had no friends, a major reason. So instead of trying to fight that image, she instead embraced it. She used it everywhere she went, specially at the academy. It was how she got to hang with some of the other 'popular' girls her age. Not to mention that her parents also gave her everything she wanted. So it was only natural others would as well.

Despite all of that, however, the young girl did have some morals in her. She managed to suppress them most of the time, but seeing Naruto in front of her act depressed at what she had said made her feel depress as well.

But _why_? After all, Naruto was just some boy that her parents had brought in for whatever reason. He wasn't anyone special. Not only that, but she could tell that both of her parents were really starting to like the blond. Even Kaito. And she didn't like that. She was supposed to be the only one that her parents sought to give everything. Kaito was different. He was already grown up. But Naruto wasn't.

Her other part retaliated, though. It told her not to think that way. The girl frowned. Just why was this happening to her? She didn't like to feel this way. To feel guilt. Unable to stop herself, Kushina began to mumble.

"Sorry…."

Naruto's ears twitched at hearing the single word. Turning around, he looked at his future mother in surprise.

"What?"

Kushina puffed out her cheeks before she screamed out, "I'm sorry, okay! I wasn't trying to make you feel sad!"

Naruto continued to look at her in surprise, his eyes blinking as his brain tried to process what his ears had sent it. Hell, even Kurama was now paying rapt attention. Now this seemed more like person who was his second host. Grinning to himself, the fox closed his eyes once more. The blond never ceased to amaze him. Of course, he would never tell said blond that.

Naruto scratched his cheek, now feeling embarrassed at the proclamation. "I-I see…." Damn, he was starting to sound like Haru now.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Both Naruto and Kushina froze at hearing the amused voice. Turning towards the street outside of the gate, both kids found an amused looking Kazumi standing there with grocery bags in hand. At least that explained why she was late. Her eyes were dancing in obvious gratification, but what that gratification could possibly be, Naruto had no idea.

Kushina turned beat read before lowering her head as she walked past her mother without a word.

Kazumi looked at the retreating form of her daughter before looking at Naruto, beckoning him to start walking as well. Naruto did as told.

While in the midst of their walk back to their house, one Uzumaki Kazumi continued to smile as she walked alongside Naruto with Kushina still in front of them.

'It seems that going to the store paid off to be a good idea,' thought Kazumi as she looked at her dejected daughter walking in front of her. It hadn't been done on purpose. The Uzumaki matriarch had thought that it would have taken her ten minutes top to do the small food shopping that she had done. But it had taken her a bit longer than that due to both her wandering eye as she continued to plow through the many aisles in the store and the line which she had been force to wait in afterwards.

"I can help you with those, baa-chan."

Inwardly, one of Kazumi's eyebrows twitched at the nickname. Really, she wasn't _that _old to be called that. But she knew that the young blond meant no harm in calling her that. She could even sense the great amount of joy when he said it. While she didn't know why the blond would feel that way, she wasn't about to go burst his bubble. She wasn't that cold hearted, or anywhere close to it.

Smiling down at Naruto, Kazumi handed him one of her bags. "Why, thank you, Naruto-kun. You're a real gentleman."

Naruto beamed at that as they continued to make their way home.

Looking at both kids, Kazumi smiled even more. It seemed that it was going to be interesting from now on. A good kind of interesting.

Naruto's thoughts mirrored his grandmother's. Really, today had been a good day for him. Not only had he made new friends, but he had also made some progress in getting to know his mother. He wasn't entirely sure how he had done either, but he didn't much care either. He would just accept it with a big grin on his face. Oh yes. He could definitely get used to this.

In his mind, Kurama cracked one eye open, feeling the happiness which Naruto was currently emanating. Closing the eye once more, the bijuu tried to get some more shuteye.

He could tell Naruto what he had learned later, especially with the first obstacle possibly being the destruction of Uzu. In all honesty, the fox wasn't sure if that was what the old man had meant. Of course, he himself didn't know when it happened. At least, not accurately. He could make a guess, but that was all. A guess.

Still, he wasn't about to rain in on his host's parade. Normally, he would do so. But not now. Not with everything that was going to have to be done. He would let Naruto cherish these feelings for as long as possible.

After all, it was the least he could do. Maybe the only thing he could do to help Naruto in this regard. And if so, then he would do it.

**'Let tomorrow be a different day from this one….'**

* * *

**Yo.**

**Now, there are a few things that I want to address right now, mainly Kushina's current attitude.**

**Yes, some of you may complain, but after thinking about it, I realized that this was the best that I could do. I mean, I don't really have much to go on as to regard with Kushina and her past. We were never told how her life in Uzu was. So I'm just basing this off of my own assumptions. How true are they? Well, that's an entirely different matter. Let me just say that it's not permanent. Also, yes, Kushina might seen a bit more perceptive than normal but really, it's not much. Her current dilemma is the same as the one Konohamaru had except that instead of trying to fight the image, she embraces it. So she can pick up on small details in those types of situation.**

**Another thing is the addition of both Haru and Aika. I'm saying this right now: they will both play a major role in the early part of the story in regards to the future arcs that I have planned out. But I'm not going to spoil anything else.**

**Finally, I was surprised that no one brought up the whole issue with the seal. I mean, these are Uzumaki. They would have recognized that immediately. Both Naruto and Kurama didn't put much thought to it at the time considering the other problems they were trying to comprehend at the time, especially Kurama. Of course, the Sennin already explained why it wasn't noticed although he didn't go into much detail which was purposefully done. Hey, there's gotta be a bit of mystery in this. It's the best kind of entertainment! So if you still don't fully comprehend things in that regard, don't worry. It'll be explained more later on.**

**Well damn, that took longer than I thought. Oh well. That's all I got for you today. But really, it's finally 2014! Woo! Or something...whatever. Happy New Year to you all and to celebration of my first chapter of the year.  
**

**Till next time.**


	4. An Old Enemy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama**

* * *

**Chapter 3:  
An Old Enemy**

It was now nighttime. The sun had long since disappeared from the sky. In its place now stood the moon, its light lighting up the night sky. There were small twinkles alongside it, those said twinkles being the many thousands or millions of stars spread out throughout the vast universe.

In the Uzumaki mansion, one blond knucklehead shinobi and now self pronounced time traveler could be seen lying down on a queen size bed, arms behind his head as he looked at the night sky through the window of his room under his covers.

Naruto could accurately remember his reaction when Kazumi had first shown him where he was to stay during his time here. It wasn't that hard. It had barely been three days now since it'd happened. The whiskered boy silently chuckled at the shock that had transpired in him at seeing the room. Needless to say, his apartment in Konoha did not compare at all to this. While it wasn't a commodity that the blond jinchuriki was used to, he wasn't about to complain.

Sighing, Naruto let his gaze wonder from the moon to the room, picking out the small details in the dark. It had been a few minutes since Kurama had told him of the Sennin's visit and just what the founder of the shinobi world had said.

Needless to say, he wasn't all too thrilled about what was about to happen in the future or just what their first "obstacle" was. Or could be.

**"You can't stop everything from occurring, brat. Some things are just unstoppable."**

Naruto frowned at hearing that. Words like "impossible" or "unstoppable" weren't exactly in his dictionary. Still, he could understand where the nine tailed bijuu was coming from. Understand, but not agree. Those two concepts were completely different.

'I know that, Kurama. But still. If the destruction of Uzu is our first obstacle, then shouldn't we be out there trying to stop it? Just sitting here isn't going to do anything. I mean, isn't that why Sasuke and I even came back to the past to do in the first place? Fix the mistakes that have occurred? I don't know about you, but destruction of this place seems like a big mistake that needs to be fixed.'

Kurama was silent for a few moments, trying to find the words that he needed to convey.

**"It's not like I disagree with you at all on this. If it were up to me, we would be causing mayhem out there. But the old man sent us here exactly for a reason. And I never said that we weren't meant to stop the destruction of this place. Because if that is the first obstacle, the old man believes that you and I can handle it."**

Naruto continued to frown, knowing full well that the giant fox was holding out on him. Kurama could sense this and had to sigh. Really, things were easier to hide if the person who you're trying to hide the thing from wasn't too perceptive.

**"All right, brat. You got me. So the old man isn't always too clear with his messages. There could be many different ways to interpret that."**

Naruto's frown deepened. 'I thought so. The Sennin didn't strike me as the type of person to just say things straight out. But if he thinks that I'm just going to just sit back and watch as how my clan is destroyed right in front of me, then he's terribly mistaken.'

Kurama h'mphed at hearing that. **'I'm pretty sure the old man kept that in his calculations…..' **Still, he didn't voice that out. Instead, he said, **"We have time to come up with a way to fix that, brat. While I'm not exactly certain when it happens, this place isn't set to be destroyed until a couple of years."**

Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at hearing that. 'How do you know that?'

**"Don't you remember what your mother told you? That she was sent to Konoha to be made my next jinchuriki?" **At Naruto's nod, the beast continued. **"Well, I know for a fact that her arrival to Konoha had been just shortly before Uzu was destroyed. And she was older at the time. If I had to guess, I'd say around ten years old, maybe eleven. I don't know. But by those calculations, we still have two more years at the least to figure out a way to save this place. And hell, I'm sure the old man twill pop up in that time and then we can ask him."**

Naruto didn't respond, but he could see the logic in Kurama's words. While he wasn't too thrilled at having not known that the Sennin had shown up until now, there would be more chances. And if things got too much out of control, then he could always just head out to which ever nation was taking part of the attack and kick all of their asses. While it wasn't something that he wanted to do, he was prepared to do so.

Kurama merely grinned, having sensed all of this. At this point, there wasn't anyone who could stand in the blond's way except for Sasuke. But they were both on the same side. And Madara…..who knew where the Uchiha was. But that wasn't something that they needed to concern themselves with. At least, not at the moment.

Of course, there was one person who they didn't know where he stood. And that was Naruto's very own grandfather, Uzumaki Arashi. The bijuu knew for a fact that the Uzumakis were no pushovers. As for their leader…..the fox had no idea where he stood. Still, they had been wiped out before. So whatever went down here was big. But the bijuu wasn't about to let that scare him, not in the least. He was certain that Naruto was prepared to handle anything that came their way.

His train of thoughts ceased as Naruto was immediately on the alert. The blond was immediately standing by the door that led to his room, his ear pressed up against it as he heard voices downstairs. But due to the distance, he couldn't quite pick up what it was that was being said.

Kurama smirked. **"Oi, you're not going to just stay here and not find out what exactly is going down there, are you?"**

The blond boy smirked back as he dropped to the floor, sitting down in a cross legged position with both of his hands in front of him. The blond Uzumaki continued to smirk as he felt the familiar essence of nature energy entering him.

'You know me too well, furball.'

The fox bijuu merely grinned back before closing his eyes. Yes, it wouldn't be Naruto-like to just sit in here. It would make things too boring as well.

Naruto's eyes snapped open as the familiar frog-like irises appeared, replacing his natural blue eyes.

It was spying time, Naruto style.

* * *

Down below in the first floor of the Uzumaki mansion, something indeed was going down. But it wasn't as dangerous as Naruto had first thought it would be or rather the kind of dangerous that he had imagined. However, it was as important as he had thought it would be.

Using his chakra to stick to the side of the mansion, Naruto had his back pressed up against the wall as he stood below one of the windows, masking away his chakra perfectly as he listened in to the conversation going inside. Really, learning senjutsu was one of the best things that he had ever done. Next to shadow clones of course.

Inside Arashi's makeshift office were Arashi himself, Kaito, Kazumi, and the doctor whom Naruto recognized as the man who had taken care of him when he had first woken up in the past.

Arashi rubbed his forehead as he sat on his chair behind his desk with his wife standing next to him. Kaito was off to the side with his hands still in his pockets, wearing his just a regular pair of black pants with a gray t-shirt. Finally, the doctor, or Uzumaki Ryo, sat on the other side of Arashi's desk.

"Please tell me you've found something, Ryo-san," said Arashi with a tired sigh as he glanced at the shaking form of his wife. And the shaking wasn't from the cold or any form of fear. Not at all. The shaking was from the almost uncontrolled rage that was coursing through her veins. Against his wishes, Kazumi had found out about the Naruto situation, mainly that the boy was part Uzumaki. It had happened when Ryo had shown up to their house in the middle of the night with him having no excuse prepared to tell his wife. So instead he had to spill the beans. The end result? A pissed off Kazumi.

This night was shaping out to be wonderful. To those not clued in, it was sarcasm.

Ryo shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he too felt the rage that Kazumi was currently omitting. How was he supposed to have known that his leader hadn't told his own wife about the matter!? But still, what he had to say was something that couldn't just wait.

"Well," he began, "that's just the problem that I have, Arashi-sama. I haven't found a single thing."

Arashi looked at him with a frown. "And that is why you came here in the middle of the night? To tell me you've found nothing?" Really, because if that was it, then he certainly gave Ryo more credit than the man deserved.

Ryo shook his head. "Please, understand just what I'm saying here, Arashi-sama. The boy's blood….they don't match with anyone else's from the clan!"

All other occupants in the room froze at hearing that. But just how could that be? How could Naruto's blood that match anyone?

Outside below the window, Naruto's blood froze at hearing this.

'Just what are they talking about!?'

Kurama t'ched at having heard what Ryo had said. First, he had overlooked the issue with the seal. And now this! Of course they would have taken some of Naruto's blood for study. How could he have missed that!?

**"Brat, we may have a major problem on our hands at the moment."**

Naruto shivered slightly at the tone in which the bijuu said those words. 'Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like any of this?'

**"Because it's something major which we've overlooked! Just like with the seal that apparently no longer exists!"**

Naruto frowned at the reminder.

**"Nevermind that. We have to deal with this right now. It's obvious that they took some of your blood to check whether or not there was something else wrong with you. From that, we can already deduce that they know you're Uzumaki, or at least part. The conversation in front of us also proves it."**

Naruto's eyes widened as he finally connected the dots.

'If they check kaa-chan's blood with my sample…..'

Kurama nodded, sounding as grave as the situation looked.

**"Exactly. We would have a major shit storm on our hands. Worse case scenario? You get locked up, and they try to find out just where exactly you come from. If that were to happen…."**

The bijuu left the statement hanging, but both knew what he was going to say. If that happened, then they would have no choice but to leave Uzu. And that would just make their job a lot harder.

Naruto just couldn't believe his luck. 'I'm sure the teme doesn't have to put up with this crap!'

Or maybe he did. Who knew what Sasuke had to deal with right now. Ugh, whatever. He would ask the teme that when he met him again. Right now, the situation in front of him required his full attention.

'Oi, Kurama! Just what are we going to do about this?'

The bijuu was silent, not knowing the answer himself. At least, not now.

Inside, the conversation continued.

"Just what do you mean by that?" asked Kazumi with a scowl on her usual kind face.

Ryo flinched slightly. "It's just exactly that, ma'am. Every single member of the clan's blood sample has been tested with the boy's, including my own. And they all came back negative. The only ones that weren't were Arashi-sama's and everyone else from his family."

Kazumi frowned. Of course, that had been the best kind of action. After all, there was just no way that anyone of them could be the one responsible for this mess.

Outside, both Naruto and Kurama sighed in relief.

**"Well, that certainly explains a lot…."**

Naruto had to agree with the bijuu. 'Yeah. I'm starting to think that we were panicking too much for nothing.'

Kurama shook his head. **"I wouldn't say that we're home free, at least not yet. While it's true that it's highly unlikely that they'll try to match themselves with you, it's still there. Let's just be happy that they don't suspect each other, or they would have done so already."**

Naruto merely nodded silently. 'Yeah, you and me both. But still. We have to do something about this. If they do test their blood with mine….'

Kurama simply t'ched. Like the bijuu had said before, it would be a major shit storm. Just how were they going to deal with this?

Arashi continued to massaged his forehead, a headache now making itself known. "Just how is this possible, Ryo-san?"

The good doctor could only shake his head. "I-I really don't know, Arashi-sama. I'm just as confused as you are."

Still leaning against the wall, Kaito was shaking his head as well. "You must have made some mistake somewhere. Because there is just no way that what you're saying could be true."

"Kaito, don't be disrespectful," chimed in Kazumi with a frown still on her face. While she didn't like what the doctor's revelation brought upon them, there was nothing to do. "There's no way that Ryo-san would blunder something as big as this."

"Believe me," began Ryo, "I've rechecked my results over and over again. It's what I got. If I had something better to tell you, I would have."

"Thank you, Ryo-san. We understand."

Ryo stood up and bowed to his leader before making his way towards the door. After he had left, Kazumi took to the pacing around the room, shaking her head along the way.

Arashi wish he could do the same, but really, he felt too exhausted to do so. And here he had thought that his job would have been much easier.

"Well, at least we now know why he would come here so late," commented Kaito with a sigh as he scratched his head. He had calmed down a bit after having the time to digest the news. His mother? She didn't have so much control.

"What are we going to do about this?"

Arashi looked at his wife who had asked the question, not quite having the answer to that question.

With a sigh, he answered. "I really don't know. The mysteries around this boy just keep piling up."

Kaito looked at his father. "I think that maybe now it's the time for us to use other means to get our answers."

"NO!"

Both father and son looked at Kazumi with wide eyes with said redhead looking at Kaito with narrowed eyes.

"The boy is not at fault here. Whatever is going on, we have to find out ourselves. But without causing any trauma to him!"

Kaito frowned. "Kaa-san, I understand where you're coming from. Heck, I don't even think he's a bad kid. But still. This just crosses the line. He's an Uzumaki, but for some reason we're unable to find out just where he came from. That's too risky, especially during this time."

Arashi for his part looked between his wife and son, trying to see who would come on top. In all honesty, he could understand both sides' point of view. Kaito, acting on the benefit of the village and his reasoning that Naruto's arrival was part of someone's scheme even if said boy didn't know anything about said scheme. And Kazumi, acting on Naruto's behalf to make sure that no harm befell the young boy. Because really, that was exactly what their method of 'getting the answers' would do.

The old Uzumaki frowned. That was one thing that he didn't like about their interrogation methods using fuinjutsu. While it was extremely effective, it left so many chances for the person being interrogated to be mentally scarred for life. And that was talking about an adult. An eight year old boy?

Yes, he could totally understand his wife's point of view, especially since he too liked Naruto. The boy just didn't seem like he had any bad intentions. And if what Kazumi had told him was true, his own daughter seemed to be starting to open up just a bit to him.

Both mother and son had a stare off, their stubbornness matched against each other. Like some many times before, Arashi realized that he had to be the deciding factor. But really, he didn't know which was the best course of action at the moment. There were too many unknowns for him to make a decision just yet.

"I believe," he began, causing for both mother and son to look at him, "that we should call it a night. We can deal with this mess tomorrow. It would be rash to make any sort of decision at the moment."

Kaito was quick to protest. "But tou-san! You can't just let this matter drop just like that!"

Arashi shook his head as he stood up. "I'm not. But I'm not ready to make a decision that could possibly ruin a young innocent boy's life right now."

Seeing his son about to protest once more, Arashi raised his had, stopping him. "I understand where you're coming from, Kaito. And if it were under different circumstances, I would have probably agreed with you. But one day, you're going to be in my shoes. And if there is one thing that you can take out of this whole mess is that a wise leader has to see all sides of an issue, not just one. Many great leaders have made grave mistakes just because of their stubbornness."

Kaito was silent after hearing that. Sighing, he turned around and began to walk out of the room. Stopping by the door, he looked back at his parents.

"Fine. I'll just see how things go in the morning then."

Quickly leaving the room, Kaito didn't say another word.

Arashi chuckled as he looked at Kazumi. "He has your stubborn attitude alright."

Kazumi sighed. "I understand what he's trying to say, I really do. But Naruto-kun is not a bad kid. That I'm certain of. Whatever is going is not his fault. I'm just trying to make sure that his life doesn't get destroy by whatever is going on."

Arashi walked around his desk to embrace her, running a hand through her hair which he adored so much.

"I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm sure Kaito will realize this too. He's a smart kid." He chuckled internally. Maybe "kid" wasn't accurate, but given Arashi's own age? Sure, it was acceptable.

Kazumi chuckled as she buried her head on her husband's chest. 'Hopefully…..'

Pulling back, Arashi raised up her chin with his hand to look at her in the eyes. "But for now, let's get some sleep. We'll be able to think more clearly about this in the morning."

Wordlessly, Kazumi followed behind her husband as he allowed for her to walk out first. Looking at his office one last time, the aged leader narrowed his eyes as for just a split of a second he thought that he had felt another presence in the room.

Shrugging it off as his imagination, he closed the door behind him as he followed behind his wife upstairs towards their room, quite eager to call this day a quit.

* * *

Perched up on top of one of the many nearby trees, Naruto had a lot of reflecting to do after everything that he had just seen take place tonight. But the biggest emotion he felt was happiness. Happiness at seeing his own grandmother actually caring about him as much as she did. While it wasn't something that he had been expecting, he wasn't about to complain.

**"She's quite something, eh brat?"**

Naruto could only nod. He now saw where his mother had gotten her stubbornness from and, consequently, him as well. He wasn't so sure about what to think about his uncle's reaction though. But one thing was certain: he too understood where he was coming from. After all, as far as they were concerned, this could still be part of someone's scheme that could jeopardize their entire village and family.

In all honesty, though, Naruto wasn't too sure what he would do if he were in his grandfather's shoes. But one thing he was certain of: he respected the kind of man that he was. Arashi reminded him a lot of how the Sandaime was. Both wise leaders and just rulers but hard when the situation called for it. It was exactly the kind of leader that he wanted to be someday.

But that could come later. Now, there was a problem to deal with.

'Oi, furball. Just how are we going to solve this?'

Kurama scratched his ear with one of his tails as he thought about the situation at hand.

**"Honestly, brat, I have no idea. But if we were to destroy all of your blood samples, that would cause for more problems to arise instead of fixing any. And it could just be the line that would force your grandfather to act accordingly. So for now, the best option in my opinion is just to see how thing play out. As things stand, I don't think they're going to test their own blood with yours. As long as that doesn't happen, then we're safe."**

Naruto merely listened to everything that the bijuu had to say. If there was one thing that the blond jinchuriki had learned about the nine tailed fox in the short time that they had been friends was that the bijuu was extremely smart. Then again, he had lived for who knew how many years. So it was expected. But the point was that the blond had learned to listen to what the beast had to say in these situations. Because really, Naruto knew that he sucked when it came to thinking things through. Well, unless it was in the heat of battle.

'I see. Well, it's not like I have anything else, so I guess your plan it is, furball. We'll just have to see what they finally decide to do.'

**"I wouldn't worry too much about it anymore, brat."**

Naruto had to raise an eyebrow at the calmness in which Kurama said that sentence. 'What? Why? Weren't you the one that was freaked out just a minute ago about this?'

**"Yeah, I was. But now having finally seen what took place in there, the threat has gone down immensely. It's obvious that they trust you and have taken a liking to you, especially your grandmother. And while I don't know why they would, it'll work in our favor."**

Of course, he lied about the last part. The bijuu knew exactly why they had taken a liking towards his host. But hey, he needed to keep up appearances.

Naruto rubbed his chin in contemplation. 'I see. While I don't like using baa-chan like this, you're right. Keeping our heads lowered right now would be for the best. Better to just learn whatever info we can of this time.'

Kurama nodded as he closed his eyes, releasing a massive yawn. **"Exactly. Now, I believe that's all for tonight, brat. Best if we just call it a night too. After all, you have to go to the academy tomorrow again, remember?"**

Naruto shivered slightly before he perked up, remembering that he would get to see both Haru and Aika. Not only that, but cool things down with his mother even more.

Instantly jumping down from the tree, the blond made his way back to the window that led into his room. It was time to get some shuteye.

The moon and the stars in the sky seemed to light up even more.

* * *

The rest of the night was gone in a flash. Maybe because there had been nothing else to do except to sleep. Still, the blond jinchuriki didn't think about it as he woke up with a yawn, stretching his arms and legs as he got out of the bed.

Looking around in his half awake state, the blond scratched his butt before finally making his way to his own bathroom that was actually inside his room. As a side note, that had been something else which the blond had found to be quite shocking.

Quickly going through his morning routine of brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Naruto put on his usual outfit. Walking outside of his room and closing the door behind him, the blond made his way downstairs where things were more lively.

His stomach made its presence known as the whiskered jinchuriki smelled the food that was already prepared as he entered the kitchen table. The others were already there even for Kushina who seemed to be quieter than usual.

Sitting down at his usual spot next to Kaito, Naruto did his best to ignore everything that he had seen take place the night before.

Kazumi had a smile plastered on her face from her spot next to Arashi. "So, today is your second day at the academy, Naruto-kun. Are you excited?"

Naruto nodded, his usual grin coming to life. "Yep! I even made some new friends there."

Arashi looked surprised as he joined the conversation. "Is that so?"

Naruto nodded again. "Yeah! Even Kenji-ojiichan's son, Haru. He's a bit shy though….."

Arashi chuckled. "That he is, my boy. Well, I'm glad for you."

Kazumi nodded as she agreed. "That's right. It would have been a bit boring for you there without any friends."

Kushina shifted uncomfortably on her seat for a moment before calming herself. This didn't go unnoticed by either parents but chose to not comment on it.

Kaito for his part chose to remain silent. He still wanted to pick things up with his father about last night's issue but knew that now wasn't the time for it. Well, he could wait. If there was something that he had been forced to learn before becoming a jonin was that patience was a virtue. It wasn't a good thing to be impatient. Impatience was something which had gotten so many other shinobi dead in the past. And still did for that matter.

The rest of breakfast was met with a comforting silence reigning. Naruto didn't really mind it in the slightest. After having eaten by himself for all of his life, this was quite the improvement. It was even better because this was his actual family.

It was then that a shinobi whom Naruto didn't recognize appeared by the doorway which led into the gigantic living room with one of the servants at his side.

"Arashi-sama-"

Arashi raised his hand to stop the servant. "It's quite alright. You may go."

The servant simply bowed before doing so. The shinobi simply knelt as he said, "Arashi-sama, there are some shinobi from Konoha who wish to speak with you."

Arashi was immediately on his feet. "I'm sorry for leaving like this, but it seems that there's something I have to do."

Kazumi nodded while Kaito stood up as well, following behind his father. Kushina simply looked on in slight confusion while Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. Konoha, eh? Well, this was why shadow clones had been created.

**"Oi, are you going to….?"**

'Yeah. Like I said last night, we need as much information about this period as we can. I'm sure that whatever those shinobi are here for, it must be big. I have to know.'

Kurama smirked. **"Finally thinking, are you? Well, good. Knowledge is power, brat. Never forget that."**

Naruto chuckled in his mind before looking at Kazumi who was now standing up as well.

"Well, looks like it's time for the academy you two. Time to go."

Kushina stood up without a word as she made her way towards the door out of the house.

Naruto chuckled as he scratched his head. "Sorry, baa-chan. But I forgot something upstairs. I'll be right back."

Kazumi simply nodded as she watched the young blond run upstairs. Turning to her daughter who was putting on her sandals already, Kazumi shook her head.

"Not so fast, Kushina-chan. We have to wait for Naruto-kun."

Kushina didn't respond, instead for opting to turn around so as to not look at her mother in the face. Kazumi couldn't help but smile slightly.

'So, she's still shy about what happened yesterday, eh? Hehehe, so cute.' Inside her head, the Uzumaki matriarch was a giggling mess.

Turning around, she saw Naruto running back downstairs towards them. Nodding to herself, Kazumi and the two Uzumaki kids made their way out of the house and towards the academy.

No one saw the sudden blur jumping from the house's rooftop.

* * *

**"Oi, brat. This isn't exactly going to be as easy as spying on them last night. They went to your grandfather's official office or whatever. There's going to be a lot of shinobi around."**

Naruto frowned at hearing that. Truth be told, he hadn't thought about it until now. Still, thanks to senjutsu he could mask his chakra perfectly. No one would know he was there unless they were really looking. And that wouldn't be a problem in the least unless he alerted any one of them of his presence, something which he wasn't about to go and do.

Landing at a nearby rooftop in front of the main tower in Uzu, Naruto made sure to not be seen by the many civilians down below as they walked around the streets, going about their business.

Looking at the tower, Naruto couldn't help but frown again. Okay, so this was going to be a bit more tougher than he anticipated. And he was talking about the many shinobi that were on guard all over the tower.

'Geez. What's up with all of the security?'

**"Must be because of the arrival of the Konoha shinobi. Like I've told you before, brat, this is a different time. If my estimations are correct, the Second Shinobi War is still raging on right now. And if my other hunch is correct, that must be why those shinobi came here."**

Naruto t'ched at hearing this. Really, couldn't anything be easy? But now he had to think. How could he get inside the tower without alerting anyone that he was there in the first place?

The whiskered blond turned his attention the roof of the tower, immediately seeing two shinobi, chunnin by the looks of it, stationed up there. Using the swift mobility provided sennin mode, Naruto was quickly on the rooftop without having alerted anyone.

He was behind the two guards in an instant, knocking them out. The now unconscious guards fell to the ground in an instant.

'I'm going to need to wake them up before I leave,' thought the blond before shaking his head. Looking down below, he saw a few more shinobi on the ground but he could sense even more everywhere inside the tower. They were well hidden alright, especially in his grandfather's office.

**"How exactly are you going to deal with that, brat?"** Let it be known for a fact that Kurama was not one for stealth. And why should he be? After all, all he had to do was blow away anyone who dared to mess with him with his chakra. Not to mention his size. That was the bigger factor here.

Naruto didn't respond as he concentrated. Weighing his options, the blond decided to risk everything by walking along the side of the building before being close enough to the office. In other words, it was the same method in which he had spied on his family the night before. The only problem with that would be if any of the shinobi on the ground decided to look up.

Still, the young jinchuriki realized that his grandfather wasn't all too concerned about someone sneaking in from up top. If he did, there would have been more guards up here. The other good thing about being in this mode was that he was almost invisible to the naked eye from long distances when remaining still. In all honesty, the only way he could be found was if they actively searched for him.

Nodding his head, Naruto decided to go ahead with his plan. Jumping to the wall, his feet immediately stuck to it like as if it were glued. Walking along it, the blond moved swiftly and silently. It wasn't long before he reached his destination. Seeing the many windows which no doubt belonged to his grandfather's office, Naruto stopped.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated as he tried to pick up all the chakra in the area. Grinning, the blond realized that he had made it just in time. They were just outside of the office. A second later, Naruto's blood froze as he sensed a chakra which he was all too familiar with as well as with the owner of said chakra.

Gritting his teeth, the blond tried to reign in his anger.

'Orochimaru….'

* * *

Arashi opened the door to his office as he walked in followed by Kaito, Kenji, and a few other shinobi. They were followed in by the shinobi from Konoha who were four in total, one of which was none other than Orochimaru himself. Albeit, a much younger Orochimaru but still.

Sitting down on his seat, Arashi folded his arms in front of him as he immediately placed his poker face on. Both Kenji and Kaito flanked him. Normally, he wouldn't have allowed for Kaito to have been here but the jonin had demanded to be a part of the meeting. And Arashi couldn't blame him. After all, he already knew what the topic of this conversation was going to be.

Orochimaru bowed for a moment as he carefully eyed all of the Uzu shinobi who stood all around the room. It seemed that the village leader wasn't as trusting as he let on to be, eh?

"It's an honor to be here, Uzumaki-dono," said Orochimaru as he stood straighter.

Arashi h'mphed. "One of Hiruzen's student, eh? Really, to think that he would send someone so young here. Either he has much faith in your skills, or he's going senile sooner than expected."

If that comment bothered him, Orochimaru hid it perfectly as he simply smiled pleasantly in return.

"I assure you, Uzumaki-dono, that I'm quite capable. Unfortunately, we're on limited time here, so I must make this meeting as quickly as possible."

Arashi waved one of his hands, signaling for Orochimaru to continue.

Said shinobi did so. "As you must know, the war doesn't seem to be waning down. Suna is on the brink of surrender thanks to our victories on their front as well as the pressure that Iwa is putting on them from the north. Unfortunately, despite their heavy losses, Iwa doesn't seem to be on the road to surrendering especially with their success against Suna. Finally, things with Kumo are the hardest. They've been having a successful campaign against Kiri. Even our efforts against them haven't been too successful in recent months."

Arashi frowned as he listened to all of this. Really, he had expected all of this. Onoki was just too stubborn to give up as easily, especially against Konoha. As for Kumo, the Sandaime Raikage was a monster. Arashi wasn't so sure if he could be able to stand up against the man. And that said something. As long as both Iwa and Kumo refused to surrender, however, the war would drag on. And Konoha couldn't afford to keep fighting in two fronts as big as those. At least, not at the rate in which things were going.

Which was exactly what led these four Konoha shinobi here to Uzu.

Raising one of his hands, Arashi interrupted Orochimaru mid-sentence as the said shinobi continued to explain the situation to him. Really, it was just all pointless. Everyone inside of the room knew just why they were here. Best if they just got on with it.

"There's no need for you to continue," Arashi said as he lowered his hand. "I know why you're here, Orochimaru. So why don't you just get on with it."

Once more, if Orochimaru was surprised at Arashi knowing his name, he hid it pretty well. Nodding, Orochimaru decided to do so.

"Very well. Sandaime-sama has sent me here to ask you if you would please step out of your neutrality stand in this war. Besides, we all know that both Iwa and Kumo aren't exactly respecting your decision either. You could even say that this will be your way for some payback for their many efforts of trying to intrude into your nation."

Arashi frowned behind his folded hands. That was most certainly one way in which he could look at things, but it wasn't the one that he was choosing. Glancing at Kenji, the Uzumaki leader saw the man merely standing there with a blank look. But Arashi knew better. He knew that his friend wasn't so keen on joining this war. Hell, no one from Uzu was. It was why they had decided to remain neutral. But like Orochimaru had so kindly put it, both Iwa and Kumo weren't exactly following their stand on this matter.

Of course, they hadn't attacked them outright, but the many raids along the coasts of Kiri was more than enough. Not to mention the embargo placed by Kumo on them. With how things were outside of Uzu, it wasn't safe for any Uzumaki to go out into the Elemental Nations. One way or another, Konoha really was their only anchor.

But there was something else driving him. And that was the relationship which Konoha and Uzu shared, mainly the relations between the Senju and the Uzumaki. It was the whole reason they even had a treaty with Konoha in the first place. The Senju and the Uzumaki were distantly related, with the Uzumaki clan having been formed from a faction of the Senju who didn't want to take any part in between the constant fighting between the Senju and the Uchiha. It was when they had first formed Uzu, the first shinobi village ever to be created even if they weren't recognized as so by the other nations.

Ever since then, the Senju and the Uzumaki had kept close relations, even after Hashirama had created Konoha with Uchiha Madara. And now they were asking for help.

Arashi could only sigh. This was going to be troublesome. Looking at Orochimaru, Arashi answered.

"Unfortunately, I can't answer you right away. I need to consult with my advisers first."

Orochimaru nodded at the answer. "Understandable. But unfortunately, we can only spend a day here at the most. We have to return as soon as possible."

Arashi frowned again. Things were really hectic if Hiruzen was only giving him a day to come up with an answer. And he knew Hiruzen personally. He could honestly say that the Nidaime had chosen well. In other words, Konoha must be in dire need of help at the moment if he was asking this much.

Nodding, Arashi responded. "Very well. You may stay at one of our hotels for the day. I will summon you back in the morning to inform you of our final answer."

Nodding again, Orochimaru along with the other three Konoha shinobi filed out of the office as they were escorted by the other jonin who had been inside the room.

After they had all left, Arashi finally released a massive sigh as he slumped down on his seat.

Kenji sighed as well as he walked to stand in front of Arashi's desk. "It seems that the war is not going so well for Konoha as we first had thought."

Arashi nodded. "Yes, I know. For Hiruzen to do this, he must need help badly. Especially since he's going up against both Iwa and Kumo. Even he can't be in two places at once."

Kenji shook his head. "He's asking a lot though. You know that the council won't go along with this, especially since they're only giving us a day to come up with a decision."

Kaito cut into the conversation. "We all know here that father can easily override the council in this matter. It's war we're talking about."

Arashi looked at him. "That may be, but that doesn't mean that it'll be a smart thing to do. They'll find ways to cheat the system. That's what politics is all about. But still, we may be able to persuade the council easier than usual."

Kenji could only sigh as he relented on that point. "Yeah, that much is true. They haven't been pleased with Iwa and Kumo recently. I'm pretty sure that a lot of them were just waiting for something like this to happen before they jumped at the opportunity. But we can't get rid of the fact that this may just be what Iwa and Kumo were planning all along, especially Kumo."

"To get their hands on one of us," finished Arashi for him. The three Uzumaki in the room could agree to that. Inside of Uzu, they were pretty well protected. But once outside? No guarantee.

Arashi stood up. "Well, I might as well get this over with. Kenji, if you would please arrange the meeting with the council."

Kenji merely nodded as both men made for the door. They stopped midway, however, as Kaito spoke.

"What about the matter with Naruto?"

Arashi paused for a moment as he glanced at Kenji who glanced back. Turning to look at his son, Arashi answered.

"It will have to be solved later. Right now, we have to deal with this matter with Konoha. Odds are, we'll be at war tomorrow. So you might want to prepare yourself."

Ending it at that, Arashi walked out followed by Kenji. Standing inside the room for a few more moments in silence, Kaito shook his head before following suit.

The office was soon vacant.

* * *

Naruto was soon back at the academy, still coming into terms with everything that he had learned. After his clone had made the excuse of going to the bathroom, the blond had used that opportunity to switch back with it. The trip to the academy had also been in silence.

Now walking through one of the halls towards his classroom, the blond Uzumaki was in a deep conversation with the nine tailed bijuu.

'Is war really going to happen here too?'

**"Don't be too surprised, brat. Really. What should have been surprising was how long it took to get here, especially with how long this war has been. We should be kind of grateful, though. Because of this mess, trying to figure out just who you exactly are has been put aside. Things will be kind of easier for us now."**

Naruto had to agree with the bijuu once more. Because of the arrival of Orochimaru and the possible outcome of war in the horizon, he was no longer the top priority for Arashi. But because of that, things were going to get kind of hectic in Uzu.

But the blond jinchuriki had come to terms that he would have to fight in another war. It had just come sooner than expected.

Walking back into the classroom, the blond moved quickly to his seat in the back of the classroom in between Haru and Aika who had decided to sit with them from now on. Neither Naruto nor Haru minded.

Sitting down, Naruto caught Kushina glancing his way. If his memories from his clone were correct, the young redhead had been doing that all morning. Well, it seemed that he would need to figure things out with her when lunchtime came.

His thoughts returned back to the council meeting which would no doubt be taking place at any moment now. Really, he was never one for politics but from what he had heard from his grandfather and Kenji, the council would most likely vote for war. And if that happened, what would mean to all of these kids still in the academy?

There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that they wouldn't last too long out there, or at all.

**"Don't worry about that, brat. That's the village's problem. Our problem is just what we're going to do when war breaks out here."**

The blond really had no idea, and neither did Kurama for that matter. If only the Sennin had been more specific as to what they were supposed to do exactly. Instead, there was all of this thinking. And Naruto wasn't one for thinking.

"Oi, are you alright?"

Naruto looked at Aika who was seated on his right. There was a small frown on her face with the blond seeing her icy blue eyes analyzing him intently.

Whispering back, Naruto said, "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Aika shrugged slightly as she leaned in. "You seem to be deep in thought. And I hadn't really pegged you as one for thinking, whiskers. So something must be troubling you, something big."

Damn her analytical skills. Aika was just too observant for her own good in Naruto's opinion. But really, it was just the blond trying not get her involved too deeply into his matters. It would not end well for her.

Naruto tried to play as indifferent. In other words, he was taking a page out of Sasuke's book. Shrugging, he denied it all.

"Na, nothing's wrong. I was thinking about what flavored ramen I should get this afternoon. That's all."

Hey, that wasn't a horrible idea either. He could think better with ramen in hand.

Aika covered her mouth as she tried to not laugh at the response. Finally doing so, the young girl could only shake her head.

"You were thinking that hard about ramen? You're really weird, whiskers."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time."

Aika grinned at him before looking back at the instructor in front of the room who was on one of his lectures yet again.

Sighing, the blond leaned back on his seat as he closed his eyes. Maybe it was time to take a page out of Shikamaru's book and take a nap before lunchtime came around. Before closing his eyes fully, the boy sweatdropped as he saw Haru paying rapt attention to the lecture.

Some people were just too much of try hards.

* * *

It felt like minutes, but in reality it had been hours. Feeling someone shaking him, Naruto opened his eyes to see both Haru and Aika looking at him, with the latter being the one responsible for the shaking. She was also rolling her eyes at the moment.

"You're pretty lazy too, aren't you?"

Naruto didn't offer her a reply as he stood up, yawning as he did so. Looking around as he scratched his head, the boy realized that they were the only ones in the classroom.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Outside," Haru answered with a grin. "We managed to convince sensei to let us stay in here to wake you up. He wasn't too happy when he found out you were napping in the middle of his lecture though."

Kurama chuckled in his head. **"Already building your reputation, are you, brat?"**

Naruto shrugged as he began to walk outside of the classroom, both Haru and Aika by his sides. Haru took the shrug as the only response he was going to get from his new blond friend.

The three shinobi in training, or well two shinobi in training and one blond time traveling boy, stopped by the door as their path was blocked by none other than a nervous looking Kushina.

Aika frowned immediately as she was in front of the redhead in an instant. "What do you want?"

Both Naruto and Kurama whistled, albeit Naruto did so internally. It was obvious that Aika didn't like Kushina, or anyone popular for that matter.

Haru for his part looked on nervously as the two redheaded girls had a stare off.

Kushina scowled as she looked at Aika. "I don't want anything with you. I-it's Naruto whom I want to talk to…."

Said blond had to raise an eyebrow at hearing this. 'What could she….?'

Kurama became very interested at this development but decided not to say anything. Instead, he was prepared to just sit back and watch the show in front of him.

Haru looked on between Naruto and Kushina, obvious confusion written all over his face.

As for Aika….she scowled. Heavily. Crossing her arms, the redhead huffed. "And what makes you think that I-, I mean we'll let that happen?"

Naruto had a sudden sense of deja vu. It was like seeing Sakura and Ino fight. Seeing Kushina's temper about to flare, Naruto decided to defuse it before something big happened. They might be eight, but still.

Placing a hand on Aika's shoulder, Naruto shook his head at her. "It's alright, Aika-chan. It'd be better if I hear what she has to say. You two can go on ahead."

Aika frowned but relented nevertheless. Walking away without another word, Naruto realized that he was going to get a yelling from the girl later on. Haru merely looked at Kushina for a moment before looking at Naruto. Seeing the blond nod, the boy followed behind Aika.

Now being alone, Naruto scratched his cheek. "So? What do you need to tell me?" The blond was really hoping that it wasn't something else like saying that she didn't want him to be part of the family or something. Because really, he had thought that he had made some progress with the girl yesterday, albeit small. But still.

Kushina looked to the side as she rubbed her arm, shifting uncomfortably. She resembled nothing of the Kushina that Naruto had come to know the past few days.

"I-I was just wondering why you don't try to suck up to me like the others…."

Naruto blinked dumbly at hearing that. "What do you mean?"

Kushina looked at him with her adorable cheeks puffed out. "Ya know what I mean! Everyone but that meany Aika is always trying to get on my good side just because I'm the daughter of the clan head. But not you. Yesterday….you seemed actually sad when I said those things to you…."

Taking a huge breath in, she finally exclaimed. "And I just want to know why!"

Naruto looked at her in surprise, not being able to comprehend what he was hearing. Really, two days in a row had his mother already surprised him. And they called him unpredictable!

Kurama for his part couldn't help but smirk. Oh yes, this was certainly turning out to be better than he expected. Now, just how would this end?

Naruto scratched his head, oddly remembering the time in which he had had a similar conversation with Konohamaru in the past. Or was it the future? Bah, time traveling was too confusing. It would be better if he just didn't think about it.

"Well," he began, "it's just that I really don't care much for things like that. I see someone for who he or she is, not for whatever their name is."

Kushina looked at him with rapt attention which made the blond wonder if she was really fully understand what he was saying. Nevertheless, he continued.

"You seemed like you were really lonely and needed someone to talk to. Despite your attitude, I know that you're not really like that. You just want to have a real friend, even if it's only one. And well, I kinda wanted, no want, to be that friend. If you would let me have the possibility of being so at least."

By this point Naruto had an embarrassed blush on his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head.

As for Kushina, the girl had her head lowered. If one were to look closely, he would have seen her red face. In all honesty, she resembled a tomato at this point. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Naruto wasn't looking at her closely.

"O-ok…"

Naruto's ears twitched. Had he just heard this correctly? Or were his ears playing tricks on him? Kurama simply huffed before closing his eyes. He had seen the conclusion.

"Come again?"

Kushina huffed as she faced the other way, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I said I wouldn't mind being friends with you."

Naruto perked up at hearing that. "Really? Like really really?"

Kushina glanced back at him with one eye as the blond was jumping up in joy. He certainly was weird all right. That was the first time someone did something like that. But she quite liked it.

Running towards her, Naruto took hold of her hand as he made her follow behind him as they ran out of the classroom and unto the hallway. Looking back at her, he grinned.

"Come on! You've got to meet the others!"

Kushina simply let Naruto drag her to the courtyard, a real smile on her face, something which hadn't happened in quite some time.

* * *

Kazumi immediately knew that something was up. She didn't quite know what it was yet, but she knew it was something. But what? Again, she didn't really know.

But what she did know was that something had happened between her daughter and one whiskered blond. They were walking in a few feet in front of her with Naruto talking excitedly to Kushina with said redhead talking back just as excitedly.

The older redhead couldn't help but blink dumbly as she continued to observe the the scene in front of her. Part of her couldn't believe it. It just seemed impossible. It had been years since she had last seen her daughter this excited. And in a matter of three days, _three _days, Naruto had gotten her to open up to him.

Was that even possible? Or was she just dreaming? By Kami, she hoped she wasn't dreaming. This was something which she had hoped would happen. But she didn't think that it was going to happen this soon!

Still, she really had no idea how the little blond boy had pulled it off, but this was certainly the best that she could hope for. She couldn't wait to see the reaction of Arashi's face when he found out that little Naruto had managed to get through their daughter somehow when even they couldn't.

It was just a miracle to her. And she was thankful for it.

* * *

After having had had a pleasant dinner, one Uzumaki Naruto made his way upstairs to his room. Really, both of his grandparents had been a bit too excited, even for him. But he could understand just why they were.

Kushina, through some unforeseen way, had started to open up once again. The thought just brought a smile to the blond's face. Having hung out with his mother all day under good circumstances certainly made his day all the better. Unfortunately, it seemed that Aika wasn't ready to accept the redhead just yet.

The blond flinched as he remembered the open hostility between the two girls as he closed the door to his room. They really did remind him of both Sakura and Ino back in their academy days except that they weren't fighting for some boy's attention.

They just didn't like each other, plain and simple.

As for Haru, the shy Uzumaki had quickly accepted the new addition to their group. Thanks to both of their fathers being best friends, the two knew each other even before this day. They hadn't exactly been friends, but that situation was a lot better than the one with Aika. That much was true. Naruto couldn't really think of anything else that could be worse.

Unfortunately, he had to put those good thoughts to the back of his mind at the moment. He had work to do. The Uzumaki still didn't know how the council meeting had gone with his grandfather not having given anything away. And if either his uncle or grandmother knew what the decision had been, they weren't showing it either. All things considered, though, he would have his answer in a few hours.

But that wasn't exactly what was in his agenda at the moment. Creating a shadow clone in order to cover for him here in case anyone of his family decided to check up on him, Naruto made towards the window and quickly jumped through it.

It was at this time that Kurama decided to chime in.

**"Please don't tell me that you're thinking of doing your oh so great plan that you came up with while you were snoozing off in class."**

Naruto chuckled to himself at that. Yes, the plan that he was now putting into effect had been one which he had thought of when he had been in between the realms of dreams and reality.

'Hey, it isn't exactly my fault here. The Sennin didn't really tell us what we had to do. So I'm doing one of the few things that I'm actually good at.'

Naruto smirked.

'Improvising.'

Kurama rolled his eyes. **"This **_**plan**_**," **the bijuu highly stressed the word, **"is completely idiotic. What exactly do you wish to accomplish by doing this? Not to mention that it could put attention back on you once your grandfather gets word of it."**

Naruto couldn't help but grin as he dropped down to a nearby house. Quickly grabbing a black sheet of cloth, the blond covered himself with it as he took off once more. One of the best things about senjutsu was his tracking abilities. It saved him a lot of trouble. He knew exactly in which hotel Orochimaru and the other three Konoha shinobi were staying in.

'Please. If there is one thing that I've learned about Orochimaru is that the bastard is cunning. I'm pretty sure that he'll keep things quite about my appearance from my grandfather. As for the old man….I really don't know if he'll report it to him. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Like I said, I'm improvising.'

Kurama h'mphed but let the matter drop. For now, he would just observe.

Finally seeing his destination in sight, Naruto dropped to another rooftop close by. Quickly transforming himself into a different form that resembled his father but retained his round face but no whiskers as well as into a simple black outfit, Naruto then tried to match a voice that would fit his current appearance. One not too kidish but not too old either.

After a few minutes, the transformed blond had achieved what he had been looking for. Looking at the hotel, Naruto let a predatory grin befall his face as the cloak around him hid most of his features.

It was time to mess up with one of the individuals that had caused him so much pain in his ass.

* * *

Inside of his average sized hotel room, Orochimaru was standing by the window looking out into the buildings that were sprawled out in front of him.

Really, this place certainly looked too peaceful considering just the kind of place the world was outside of this damn island. But in all honesty, Konoha was no different. Inside of those walls, it looked as if the world was a comforting and peaceful place.

Reality wasn't as kind as that.

It was only an illusion that the weak surrounded themselves with. Really, though, that was why they were dubbed weak in the first place. Because they couldn't very well do anything about the situation that existed in the real world nor could they defend themselves. It was why the build illusions to fool themselves.

Orochimaru realized all of this with a smirk on his face. His only hope was that the night didn't drag out longer than necessary. He didn't enjoy missing the action that was currently happening in the front lines. Still, he realized the importance of this mission. He was actually quite pleased to see his sensei entrusting him with something this big.

His train of thoughts died when he suddenly felt the presence of an unwelcome visitor behind him. Orochimaru was quick to turn around as he thrusted his arm forward towards the unknown individual.

**"Sen'eijashu!"**

Multiple of snakes erupted from within Orochimaru's wrist, with said snakes shooting out towards the intruder who was now standing behind him. Said individual disappeared in a blur before reappearing on the room's ceiling in a crouched position.

The snake summoner narrowed his eyes as he tried to see just who the individual was but the only thing he could make out were golden locks sticking out from the cloak-like cloth that he had wrapped around him.

Frowning, he voiced out his questions. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"

"You can call me….shadow."

Orochimaru's frown deepened as he tried to place the voice with a face before giving up after a few seconds, realizing that he couldn't.

"As to why I'm here…..well, let's just say I'm here to give you some advice, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes even more as he realized that whoever this person was, he was quite aware of whom he was. And Orochimaru didn't like that in the slightest.

"Oh really?" Shrugging, Orochimaru looked up at the cloaked individual with an air of indifference. "And just what exactly is this advice then, shadow?"

His air of indifference died as he was suddenly aware of the person being next to him, a kunai in hand as it was pointed straight at his neck. Orochimaru's eyes were wide as he looked at the cloaked person. He hadn't even seen him moved!

"Let this be a warning to you and your Hokage and all of Konoha's higher-ups. Uzu is not to be trifled with. If I find out that anyone of you plan any harm to this place, consider yourselves dead. Is that understood?"

Orochimaru could only nod, knowing full well that any wrong move that he made could very well cost him his life. And he wasn't prepared to lose it just like that.

In the next moment, the individual was gone. Dropping to his knees, Orochimaru could only frown at this sudden development.

Just who the hell was that? One way or another, Konoha might have another enemy added to their already long list.

* * *

Sneaking in just as quietly as he had sneaked out, Naruto released the clone that he had left behind as he dropped to the bed, feeling quite satisfied to call it a night.

Huh, it seemed that Kazumi had come in to tuck him in for the night. It had been a good idea to leave behind a shadow clone alright. It was the best thing that the blond had ever learned.

Hearing a grunt from his mind, Naruto realized that the furball was still awake.

**"You must be satisfied at having had scared the wits out of Orochimaru, eh?"**

Naruto could only nod as he chuckled. 'Of course. That was my own little payback. But now Danzo will think twice about messing with this place. I haven't forgotten about what he did to Nagato and the Uchiha clan. And who knows what else the bastard has had a hand in. I only added the old man Hokage to make it more believable. If the old crippled bastard really did have something to do with the destruction of this place, I'm going to make sure to stop it.'

Kurama chuckled.

**"Well, I give you a paws up, brat. I certainly didn't mind seeing the snake man act all terrified like that. Especially with a fake kunai at that. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it again for that matter."**

Naruto chuckled again. 'Me and you both, Kurama. You and me both…..'

Kurama smiled as he soon felt his host dropping to the sweet ignorance that was sleep. Really, today had been productive alright. Not only that, but things were already picking up.

Closing his eyes as he rested his head on his paws, the bijuu decided to call it a night as well.

Tomorrow, there would more than likely be war in Uzu.

* * *

**Yo.**

**Yes, I know. I'm back earlier than expected. But I just wanted to get one more chapter in before my vacation ended. Yes, unfortunately my updates will become random after this. Some might be fast while others might be really late. I have another story that I'm working on besides this, and it's currently my priority at the moment.**

**Meh, who knows though? I could be back sooner than I'm making it sound to be. I really don't know.**

**Moving on, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter. I certainly did enjoy writing it alright. Like Kurama said, things are picking up already. Stay tune to see where exactly they lead. Also, hope you liked the scene between Naruto and Kushina. I really don't know what to think of it, so I'll let you all decide.**

**And there will be one maybe two chapters left for Naruto before finally moving on to see what Sasuke is dealing with as all of this is going on with Naruto. I still don't know what I'll do about that, but yea, look forward to it.**

**Really, that's all that I've got for you this time. A review would be appreciated.**

**Till next time.**


	5. The New Horizon

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
**

**"Hmm…."- Kyuubi/Kurama**

* * *

**Chapter 4:  
The New Horizon**

Naruto woke up the same way he had for the last several days since he had arrived to the past due to the mission which both he and Sasuke had accepted: to change the past in order to save the future. In other words, it was quite a peaceful and enjoyable experience. What made it all better for the young blond Uzumaki was that he was with his actual family, getting to know them. That was something which had been denied to him once.

Somehow, it had been given back to him.

Sitting up on his bed, the blond rubbed his eyes tiredly as his vision started to clear. The night before had been quite enjoyable all right. He had been able to mess with one of the individuals who had messed with him quite a lot for some time: Orochimaru.

The blond had to tell himself that it wasn't the same Orochimaru whom he had met in the Forest of Death during the Chunnin exams. The snake summoner was actually a Konoha shinobi during this time, not to mention how younger he was. But most of all, he was quite weaker than the future Orochimaru. Then again, he wasn't even at his prime when he along with Tsunade and Jiraiya had fought against Hanzo in Ame.

He only wondered how Tsunade and Jiraiya themselves would be during this time. Well, the blond jinchuriki was sure that he would find out soon enough. How? He wasn't quite sure.

Another thing that suddenly jumped back into the blond's memory was the whole reason why Orochimaru had even come to Uzu in the first place. And the answer was the very thing which the boy was trying to stop from happening: war. If he remembered quite correctly, it was the Second Shinobi War to be precise. Never would the whiskered boy actually think that he would say that he was actually living during that time.

Life was a bitch that way.

After having taken a shower, the blond gazed at his reflection through one of the mirrors in his room as he put on his orange jacket on. Staring right back at his reflection, the boy sighed. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling so down this morning. The night before had just been invigorating. Still, the boy did have some clue as to what had him in the dumps.

Now that he had time to think about it, Naruto realized the implication that the word war would bring to this nation, to his clan, to his family. He still remembered quite well what Nagato had defined war as. And after remembering the death of Neji, the blond had to agree with the once rinnegan user.

War was hell. It was pointless. People died for no reason whatsoever. And with that, he realized in what danger Aika, Haru, and even Kushina were now that Uzu would most likely go to war. As Kurama had told him, things changed when war befell upon a village. And he knew that he wouldn't like those changes.

**"Never would have pegged you as one for reflecting, brat. Especially at something like this. Where's all that boasting that you usually show?"**

Naruto smiled faintly as he heard the voice of one of his closest companions now.

'Ha, then maybe you just don't know me as well as you thought, furball.' The blond then frowned. 'No matter what you tell me, though, I can't help but feel uneasiness about all of this. I mean, it's not like the war which we came from. Outside of this island, every other nation is the enemy. As much as it pains me to think like this, even Konoha can't be trusted. Not with Danzo lurking beneath it somewhere. I-I really don't know how to do things now…..'

'I'm lost.'

The bijuu was silent, opting to just hearing what his host had to say. After a few moments of silence, the giant fox replied.

**"What you're feeling right now is natural, brat. You're still human inside. No matter if you want to admit it to yourself or not, you're afraid. I don't know how you've been able to hang out until now, but it doesn't matter. Neither of us have that luxury. Not with what's at stake. Besides, you said it so yourself. Just keep doing one of the things you're actually good at."**

Naruto could almost feel the massive grin on the bijuu's face.

**"Just improvise. Luck has been on our side until now. Let's see if we can squeeze out a few more miracles before it runs out."**

Naruto laughed to himself, feeling the fear that had been trying to nag at him for the past few days leave him. Scratching his head, Naruto continued to laugh for a few moments. Finally, it quieted down.

'Kurama…thanks. I really need it that.'

Said bijuu h'mphed. Offering his host no reply, he continued to lie down within Naruto's subconscious with his head on top of his paws which were crossed together.

Taking that as a 'you're welcome,' Naruto finally exited his room. Closing the door behind him, the boy walked downstairs to find the others already there. The only one missing was Kushina.

'She must still be getting ready or something.'

Brushing it off, Naruto took his usual spot next to Kaito who was eating his breakfast in a much better mood than Naruto would have thought. Things had been quite tense between him and Arashi after the meeting with Orochimaru. Naruto had seen it, after all. Odd.

Looking at the usual breakfast on his plate, the blond began to eat quietly. While Naruto wasn't the best at reading a situation, he wasn't completely bad at it either. Especially when he tried. He knew that there was a tense atmosphere hidden beneath the calm demeanor of both of his grandparents. For one, Kazumi hadn't even said good morning to him. That in of itself was odd.

But if the council had indeed voted for what Naruto was suspecting it to have, then their current attitude was completely understandable.

It was then that the last member of the family finally made her presence known. Sitting down at her own spot, the young Kushina had a small grin on her face as she looked at her parents.

"Morning, kaa-chan, tou-chan."

Arashi smiled at her, but Naruto could see that it was quite forced.

"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you have a good night's sleep?"

Kushina merely nodded as she too began to dig down on her breakfast. That was something else Naruto had learned from his mother: she had a big appetite. At least it told him where he got his.

Both Arashi and Kazumi glanced at each other with Naruto taking notice of this. Out of his peripherals, the blond also saw Kaito stop eating all of a sudden.

'So, it's time then…..'

Coughing slightly, Arashi looked at both his daughter and adoptive son. "There's something we need to discuss, you two. Something important."

Kushina stopped with her cheerful munching at hearing that while Naruto sighed internally as he relaxed. He couldn't act too normal when his grandfather sprung the news on them. It would be too suspicious. While Naruto didn't know if all of their suspicion towards him had disappear, he couldn't risk even the slightest mistake.

Arashi studied his daughter and adoptive son for a moment, trying to find the best way in which he could explain this to them without sounding as grave as the situation would be from now on.

"There's going to be some changes from now on, especially at the academy."

Kushina titled her head to the side, making Naruto stop himself from chuckling. Really, she just looked too cute. But then he remembered the topic of the conversation, immediately returning his attention to Arashi.

"What do you mean by that, tou-chan? Change how?"

Arashi sighed as he stroked his beard. It could be considered a habit at this point, something which Kazumi had been pointing out to him for a while now with him refusing it at every turn. He didn't know why, he just did.

"Let's just say that the teachers are going to be a bit stricter from now as well as tougher with what they teach you."

Kushina's eyes began to sparkle as she immediately began to jump on her seat. "Do you mean that I'm finally going to be able to learn cool jutsu like you and kaa-chan!?"

Out of his peripherals, Naruto saw Kaito sigh as he shook his head slightly. After having been in a war, Naruto could understand why his uncle would be put off at Kushina's attitude. War wasn't something to laugh at. It would bring deaths to many in the clan. Not to mention that no one knew how long it would last. Dammit, the blond was seriously beginning to hate not having paid any attention to Iruka during his days at the academy. But how the hell was he to know that one day he would be in this position?

Arashi put a forced smile on his face, nodding as well. "That's right. It won't be long before you can do awesome jutsu just like us."

It was obvious to all of the others that Kushina was clearly just looking at learning ninjutsu portion, not even bothering to ask as to why things were changing in the first place. Still, it wasn't that Naruto blamed her. Like he had taken notice of many times before, she was still just a kid.

Kazumi sighed as well before standing up and walked towards Kushina, kneeling beside her as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Kushina, you need to understand why this is happening in the first place."

Kushina stopped her cheering as she looked into the serious eyes that belonged to her mother. Naruto saw how Arashi had a guilty look on his face, making the blond realize that his grandfather had intended to tell Kushina that but wasn't able to do so in the end.

'He really does care for her…..'

**"But he's also hindering her growth, brat. There's different types of love, others better than others. Your grandfather realizes that he's making a mistake in spoiling your mother. But at the same time, he can't help it."**

Naruto silently nodded with his furry friend's assessment. Once again, he really wouldn't know what to do if he were in Arashi's shoes. It did get him thinking, though. Being a good leader as well as a parent was no easy task.

Kushina tilted her head to the side again. "What do you mean, kaa-chan?"

Kazumi bit her lip for a moment before relaxing herself as she knew that Kushina needed to start thinking that there was a whole world out there besides Uzu.

"The truth is that we're going to be going to war from now on."

Kushina looked on in slight confusion. "War?"

Kazumi nodded. "Yes. This also means that you might be facing battle sooner than expected. That's why you're going to be learning new things at a quicker pace. Understand?"

Naruto already knew that his mother did understand. The young redhead was a lot smarter than one would think. It was just her childish side that prevented her from showing that to others. Not to mention the bit of selfishness that she had in her. Even he had to admit to that.

Kushina looked at Kaito who hadn't said a word throughout the entire conversation. He also had his eyes closed with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"That means Kaito is going to be fighting out there too?"

It was obvious that the question had caught the others by surprise, even Kaito himself as he shifted slightly in his seat.

Naruto internally grinned.

Kazumi nodded in slight hesitation. "That's right."

Kushina looked away from her. "I see…."

The woman looked lost, not entirely understanding what had just happened with her only daughter.

Kaito for his part opened one eye to look at his younger sister. He seemed to be debating something before finally standing up. Both Arashi and Kazumi followed his movements as he knelt on the opposite side of where Kazumi was. He placed his hand on Kushina's head, rubbing it affectionately. Kushina looked up at him with a slight surprised look.

"Don't worry about me, shrimp. I'm going to be fine. Before you know it, it'll be back to normal."

Kushina's mood seemed to lift up at hearing that. The next moment was surprising for everyone else as well. Kaito's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a hug from Kushina.

Both Arashi and Kazumi shared a look before smiling. It was obvious that they were happy with this development. As for Kaito, he only knelt there, patting Kushina's head in an almost awkward manner as she continued to hug him.

Naruto took all of this to heart. A smile formed itself on the blond's face as he gazed at the scene in front of him. He hadn't really thought too much about it, but his mother must have suffered much more than him in some instances. After all, she lost all of this once.

_"It's because I had those bonds that I'm suffering now."_

Naruto recalled those word all too well. It was what Sasuke had told him when they had fought at the Valley of the End. And he had to agree with his rival. Naruto himself had experienced that as well with Jiraiya. Not to mention with Neji as well. Bonds were powerful. But when they were destroyed for whatever reason it could be, it hurt. A lot. There really was no way to describe the pain that came along with it.

At the same time, however, Naruto knew that things were different this time. He was here. In this time period. And he had the power to change things. Which was exactly what the blond was planning on doing. Hell, even if he didn't have the power, he would still try to do something however futile it could be. That was just the kind of person that he was. It was also the same reason why he even accepted coming back to the past in the first place.

Kazumi tore her gaze away from her children to look at Naruto, remembering that they had yet to know how he felt about the situation. But before she could even get a single word out, her eyes saw the serene expression that was present in the young boy's face. It was the same serene expression that she had seen the boy express when he thought that no one was looking. And even now she didn't know what it meant exactly. If only she could know what the blond was thinking.

But then the expression changed. Instead of it being calm and peaceful, it turned into one of full determination. The thing that shocked her the most, though, were the blond's eyes. No longer were they calm, belonging to a person which could bring no harm to others. No, they were the exact opposite of that. And that was what shocked her.

Arashi saw his wife's eyes widen out of the blue. Following her gaze, he too saw the look which now presented itself on the blond's face. The thing that shook him up the most was the blond's eyes as well. He recognized those eyes. He had seen them many times before in other people in the past. That particular thought brought the most shock to the Uzumaki leader.

They were the eyes of a capable shinobi.

Arashi lost himself in the intensity of those eyes. There was nothing he could think of that would explain the sight in front of him.

And if he were honest, that scared him even more than the coming war.

* * *

Naruto glanced at Kushina as they made their way through one of the hallways in the academy in order to get to their classroom.

What his future mother had done had certainly surprised him a lot alright. It seemed as if the redhead had taken to doing that to him at every chance she got. It was the fourth time now in which she had caught the blond off guard. At first, Naruto had thought that he had gotten Kushina's personality down. And while he wasn't exactly too thrilled at what he saw, it was what he had been expecting. But now? A complete one eighty turn.

And the blond couldn't be any happier.

Reaching their classroom, the pair walked inside, finding many other students already there with the instructor being later for once. But with the changes that were coming up, Naruto could understand that. Both Aika and Haru were also already there.

Walking to the back of the classroom to his usual seat, Naruto ignored some of the stares he got. It seemed that not all of the students were used to him yet. Well, he could live with that. He had been a pariah for twelve years. A few days was nothing to him. Kushina was also walking next to him which could explain some of the stares. Naruto idly remembered that they had been much worse yesterday when he had ran into the playground dragging Kushina along with him. Even more so when she had hung out with him and the others instead of the usual flock of girls that she did.

Aika immediately frowned when her eyes caught sight of Kushina. Haru merely waved at him. The issue between the two girls was something that neither boy wanted to get in between of. They cared too much about their health to do so.

Instead of the usual orderliness that ran supreme in the classroom, now there was only chaos. Okay, maybe not chaos per say. But all of the students were scattered about, talking amongst themselves about the unusual absence of their instructor. Some were even talking about the sudden change in Kushina.

Aika leaned on top of the desk as Naruto and Kushina stood in front of her with Haru being the only one actually seated in his seat.

"So….I'm guessing you two have heard."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Did your dad tell you already or what?"

Aika shrugged. "He wasn't entirely sure. But I told you he was a jonin. My mom was a jonin too. They resigned after they had me. But that's not the point. My dad had a little get together with his old buddies last night who still are shinobi. It seems that they already suspected war once those shinobi from Konoha got here. Haru over here confirmed it for me."

Hearing his name, the boy nodded. "Y-yea."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. 'It's only logical, I guess. Kenji-ojiichan was there too. Telling Haru was to be expected.'

**"For the boy? Yes. Especially since he's not like the others his age."**

Kushina on the other hand was looking around the classroom, a frown on her face.

Naruto noticed this but decided not to comment. He had a feeling as to what was troubling her.

Aika continued, "Anyways, at least now we're going to be able to learn useful things because of this stupid war."

Naruto's attention was immediately focused on her. "Stupid? Why would you think it's stupid?"

Aika looked around the classroom for a moment before finally answering the eager Naruto. "Think about it, whiskers. This is not our war. It's Konoha's. They should just handle it themselves instead of trying to get us into it. Well, not try anymore since they succeeded."

Haru spoke up from his spot. "But we have an alliance with them. Doesn't that mean anything?"

Aika grinned. "Yeah, I guess that must have been their excuse as well. But my dad has taught me something: in the shinobi world, alliances don't mean a thing. They're just fronts for a temporary peace which will be broken the moment that one nation gains the necessary power to strike."

Naruto couldn't help but frown at hearing this.

**"Heh, she's right, you know. These days, that's just exactly how things are. This girl….I'm really starting to be intrigued by her, brat!"**

Naruto ignored the now excited fox. Instead, he was analyzing what Aika had said in his mind. Needless to say, it went against everything that he was fighting for. Something which he had been close to achieving in his own time. Then again, it had took a madman trying to place a genjutsu on the whole world to make the other nations realize that fighting amongst themselves was pointless but still. Like Kurama had so kindly put it, though, things were different during this time period. War was a common occurrence. So it was no surprise that Aika's father, who was also a shinobi, would think that way.

That didn't mean that he liked it, though.

"That isn't the right way to look at things."

Aika looked at her friend who had his head lowered, his hair shadowing his eyes. Haru turned his attention to the blond as well. Kushina heard the way Naruto had spoken which made her turn towards him as well. His voice….it sounded kinda hollow in a sense. The young redhead didn't know how to exactly explain it.

Aika had her entire attention focused on the whiskered blond.

"Alliances, treaties, agreements, whatever you want to call them. They're just exactly what are needed right now. They can help foster relations between nations. It doesn't even have to be nations. The same can be said about just two ordinary people. If there can be no agreement, no understanding, then wars will just continue. There will be no true end to any of this. The cycle of hatred will never end, which means war will never end. And all of that will just lead to our downfall one day. That's why, as insignificant as they may look, alliances are important. They could just be a small step to fixing the cruelty of this world."

The other three kids had their eyes wide open, not exactly having been expecting Naruto to be saying things like he was. He sounded a lot older than he looked at the moment. And that confused all three of them.

Naruto came out of his stupor, realizing what exactly he had just said, what he had been planning on saying. He wanted to punch himself. Right now wasn't the time to be saying things like that. As far as any other person was concerned, he was merely an eight year old brat. Certainly not one to be saying things like he was.

Kurama for his part simply smirked. The blond was exactly like the old man in that regard alright. Always trying to find a solution to a problem through peaceful means. Even if the situation seemed hopeless. They would still charge at it head on. It came almost instinctively. One could almost say it was like a curse.

Naruto laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, trying to defuse the situation. "What were we talking about again? Cuz I forgot!"

Aika looked at Naruto for a few more moments, her icy blue eyes dissecting his inner self apart. On the outside, Naruto continued to laugh while he was sweating bullets in the inside. He knew Aika was really sharp, easily being able to grasp new ideas. Not to mention her analytical skills in a situation. She was able to read a person quite well when she really wanted to. It sorta reminded Naruto of how Itachi was. Whether that was a good thing or not, the blond didn't know.

Haru was also studying Naruto except without the intense gaze in which Aika was doing so. The boy was more confused than anything. Never had he expected for Naruto to be so….passionate, yes passionate about something like this.

As for Kushina, the girl was looking at him with an unreadable look on her face. Naruto couldn't really tell what was going on the girl's mind.

Finally, after what seemed like a millennium but was really just a few seconds, Aika spoke.

"You….you're really weird, whiskers."

One of Naruto's eyebrows twitched at that. Was that the girl's catchphrase or something!? But it did bring some relief to the blond. At least none of them were thinking that he was a time traveler or anything like that. Now that really would have sucked.

A snort ran through his mind, belonging to none other than one nine tailed bijuu. **"Time traveler? Just because of that? Thousands of other reasons come up before that ever does, brat. Your stupidity really does surprise me sometimes."**

Naruto t'ched, trying to hold himself from snapping back at the sarcastic bijuu. Why did he had to get stuck with the snarly one?

Kurama h'mphed. **"Please. We both know you would be nothing without me."**

Naruto rolled his eyes internally. 'I'm pretty sure I would be living a quite life with both of my parents in my time, thank you very much.'

Kurama smirked. **"You got me there. But where's the fun in that? That life sounds way too boring."**

Naruto smirked back. 'And I have to give you that one, furball. Which makes us even.'

All conversations ceased as the door of the classroom was opened with the chunnin instructor finally making his first appearance of the day. He looked a lot more serious than he normally did. All of the students were quick to get in their seats. Naruto sat where he normally did with Kushina taking Haru's usual spot. Aika was on Naruto's right with Haru being on Aika's right. For whatever reason, Haru hadn't raised one single complain against Kushina when the girl had said that she wanted to sit there. Aika did, of course. Thankfully Haru had managed to stop a fight from occurring between the two girls, saying that he really didn't mind if Kushina took his spot. Aika had let the matter drop after that.

The chunnin was looking at every single one of his students, mentally sighing at what he was about to do. Honestly, he knew that more than half of them weren't even ready for what was to come in regards to their training, if not all. But that was how the policy was during war. And he had to follow the rules that had been placed down long before he was born.

"As I'm sure many of you have already heard, there has been a sudden change in Uzu's policy as of today. I know that Arashi-sama will no doubt announce this later today, but as future shinobi of Uzu, you should be formally inform as soon as possible."

**"That's a nice way to butter things up."**

Naruto had to agree on that one.

Waiting just a moment longer, the chunnin finally continued.

"As of today, Uzu will now be joining the Second Shinobi War."

The chunnin paused to let the statement sink in to the young kids. Many of them who came from civilian families hadn't been expecting that all. They didn't even fully understand what "war" exactly was, only that many people died.

The chunnin cleared his throat to catch their attention before they could burst into a whispering frenzy.

"Now, because of this declaration, there will be many changes here at the academy starting today. Mainly, your training. Unlike from before, we will be going at a much faster rate than usual. Now what that exactly means is that we'll be skipping most of the theoretical stuff and focusing more on your physical prowess, such as taijutsu and ninjutsu for example."

Thankfully, the knew what those were at least. Many of the more naive kids had excited looks on their faces at hearing this, much like Kushina had been when she had first heard the news. Now, the redhead was frowning as she noticed all of this.

Naruto glanced at her to see the frown.

**"Well, seems like she's learned something today."**

Naruto had to agree. 'Yeah. But I'm not entirely sure if that's good or not.'

Kurama remained silent, not quite knowing himself.

The chunnin in front of the class sighed silently as he also observed this. If only they knew what war was like, what it brought along with it. Then they wouldn't be so excited as they were now. But he wasn't about to snap at them for it. They were still kids. Still, he knew that he would have to burst their bubbles eventually. That was one of his jobs as the instructor. He couldn't let them go out there with naive expectations. They would be dead before they could even put up a proper fight if that were the case.

Raising up his hand, the excited murmuring from the class stopped.

"Now, that being said, we will get started as soon as possible. Our first lesson will deal with taijutsu, hand to hand combat. What the goal of this exercise is is to let me know where all of you stand in regards to it. From there, you will be able to improve in this area."

The chunnin knew that the first exercise was really pointless. None of his students had ever been in a real fight before nor have any of them ever been taught any proper stances for basic taijutsu. As far as he knew anyways. But that was regulations. He had to follow it.

Naruto had to control himself from screaming out in frustration.

'Dammit. This really will be a complete waste of time for me!'

**"There's no doubt about that, brat. But spying on the meeting between your grandfather and that snake will be useless. We already know what your grandfather's answer is. It would be moot to go."**

The fox was right on that point. But even though he had stated otherwise, Naruto really wanted to know if Orochimaru would mention anything about last night's encounter with Arashi.

**"Please. You're just grasping at straws now. We both know that you just don't want to be here."**

Naruto t'ched. 'Stupid cunning furball…..fine! Yes, that's exactly what I want to do! Happy?'

Kurama shrugged, not that the blond could see it. **"Meh, after watching how you'll suffer in the next eight hours I will be."**

Naruto couldn't help but sweatdrop. 'You…..you really do have some sick tastes.'

The bijuu chuckled. **"I take that as a compliment, brat."**

Naruto merely shook his head before refocusing his attention back to the real world. Seeing how the chunnin had just ordered them all to file outside, the blond sighed.

Today really was going to be a long day.

* * *

Despite what Kurama had said, Naruto had indeed created a shadow clone as he and the rest of the kids filed out on the courtyard for the little test. He at least wanted something to look forward to while this was going on. But the reason he didn't go himself was because he really wanted to see for himself just what exactly both Aika and Haru could do. Kushina…..he really wasn't expecting too much.

And so, things preceded quite fast after that. Naruto had to resist the urge to yawn out loud as he watched the fights in front of him, if they could be called that. He wasn't trying to be an asshole or anything either. But after having fought against the likes of the Uchiha Madara, this really was just…..pitiful. The blond did wince as the thought invaded his mind.

'Damn, I really am an asshole.'

Kurama made no comment to disagree with his host, something which Naruto observed with a slight twitch of his eyebrows. The furball had a comment for everything else but that? Go figure.

Looking around, Naruto noticed the bored look on Aika as well. So they were thinking the same thing about the situation, were they? The blond jinchuriki didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Haru was simply watching the fights in front of him with a calculating gaze, but just what exactly there was to analyze Naruto didn't know.

Finally, Kushina had her arms crossed as she stood next to him. Naruto didn't really know what his future mother could be thinking about this. Hopefully, it wasn't something like he was.

The chunnin sighed as he called the draw for the fight. The two boys in front of the formed circle were panting after having fought, what they thought was, a tough fight. Just as the chunnin had expected, none of them had any skills whatsoever. He would have to start from scratch. Not that he wasn't expecting that, but still. It would have been nice to be proven wrong. Sighing again, he scanned his pad in his hands, quickly finding the names of the next two fighters.

"Next up are Uzumaki Aika, Uzumaki Kushina!"

Both Naruto and Haru had to flinch as the names were called out. That was possibly the worst match up the chunnin could have made. The two girls had been at each others' throats for the past two days. A physical fight would just worsen the situation, no matter who won.

Kurama was grinning like a madman, eh rather like a madfox.

**"Finally! Something interesting to see!"**

Naruto internally rolled his eyes. 'Oi, weren't you the one saying how I had to sit through this?'

**"Yes, but since you went ahead and created a clone to go and spy on that meeting, I might as well come out too. I'm a trickster at heart, brat."**

'Go you….'

Both Aika and Kushina were standing inside of the formed circle on opposite ends, basically having a stare off. Anyone could tell right off the bat that they did not like each other. Even the chunnin noticed this who didn't really put much thought to rivalries among the students and the like.

Aika crouched down at the same time as Kushina got into a basic stance which the chunnin immediately recognized as the one that was taught to the older students.

'So, her parents did teach her something…..' Looking over at Aika, he had to raise an eyebrow. 'I wonder what she's planning….'

On the side, both Naruto and Kurama were surprised as well. 'Aika-chan I understand. But kaa-chan? I didn't think that Arashi-ojiichan taught her anything yet…..'

Kurama hummed in agreement. **"It seems like we were both wrong. Still, this will just make the fight more interesting."**

Naruto silently agreed with the bijuu as they waited patiently for the fight to began. They didn't have to wait long.

As if an unspoken signal had gone out, both girls rushed at each other at speeds that vastly surpassed the others so far. Of course, it still wasn't anything near to what Naruto could do or the chunnin for that matter. But both were still impressed as they saw this, Naruto even more so. The blond realized that if this had been his first time being an eight year old, the girls would have been able to kick his ass, quite easily perhaps.

Kushina caught Aika's fist with the latter doing the same to hers, both gritting their teeth as they stared at each other. A moment later, they released their holds, aiming for kicks now. They both grunted in pain as they each kicked the other on their sides, knocking the wind out of them as they stumbled back. Managing their balance, they both charged again.

Naruto and Haru shivered slightly as they continued to watch the onslaught in front of them. It had been about ten minutes now, the girls still going at it despite their heavy panting. The chunnin made no attempt to stop them anytime soon either.

Kurama chuckled in Naruto's mind. **"Well, we now at least have some idea what those boys that bullied your mother had to put up with. No wonder she gained her nickname…."**

'You sound surprised, furball.'

Kurama grinned. **"Like your mother oh so kindly put it when you first met her, we weren't exactly the best of friends, brat. I've no shame to admit that, if given the chance, I would have killed her without a second thought. The same goes to your father, him more so. So it wasn't like we talked or anything nor was I interested in having a chat in the first place. That's just how it is."**

Naruto remained silent, already having had an idea of what Kurama was talking about. There had been an unspoken agreement between them about the night of his birth: to hell it with it. Naruto understood the bijuu's stand on the matter during that night. He had been a prisoner, and he had been willing to do anything to gain his freedom. The blond couldn't really hold the bijuu accountable for that. It just wouldn't be right. That was all that there was to it.

Back to the fight, Aika panted heavily as she scowled, watching her enemy in front of her. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She had been training hard with her father for the exact purpose of proving her worth to others, especially the little princess in front of her. That was all that she saw Kushina as: a spoil little brat who had it all. She shouldn't be able to match her, it just wasn't possible. The fight should have been over with in a matter of seconds. But instead, it seemed that the girl standing opposite of her had been training as well. That didn't mean that Aika was about to give up, though. Not by a long shot. This just fueled her motivation even more. She needed to beat the girl in front of her. Anything less than that wouldn't be acceptable.

Kushina's eyes widened as Aika zigged zagged the area in between them at an even faster speed than before. Her eyes couldn't keep up. A moment later, the young redhead found herself knocked down on the ground on her back with Aika crouched down on top of her, her fist aimed at Kushina's face.

Both Naruto and Haru looked at each other.

"Woah…."

The chunnin grinned slightly as he noted the fight on his clipboard. It seemed that there were exceptional students in his class after all. That just made his job a slightly easier and tolerable.

Aika stood back up as the chunnin called the fight her victory, immediately walking back to stand next to Naruto and Haru. Kushina stood up a bit slower, watching Aika's walking form with wide eyes for a moment before she scowled herself. This wasn't over, not by a long shot. Her hair began to move slightly in a wild manner, almost as if it was agreeing with her.

This was where their rivalry had truly begun.

Naruto had to scratch the back of his head as his name was called up along with another boy's who he didn't recognize. He did notice how many girls began to cheer as the boy was called up, though, their shock from before having worn off.

'So there's a Sasuke here too, eh? Just my luck…..'

Kurama chuckled. **"So? How do you want to do this, brat? Are you going to be the "dobe" again? Or are you going to outshine all of these pipsqueaks?"**

Naruto honestly didn't know. Aika was next to him, patting him on his back with a smile on her face.

"Go get him, whiskers."

Kushina was now standing next to Haru, biting her lip slightly as she looked from Naruto to the other boy who was already standing in the makeshift arena. She was having an internal dilemma as to whom she was going to support. Naruto was her friend, but the other boy was…..basically, she too had a crush on the boy. Let it be as that. So the redheaded girl opted for staying silent, not really knowing what else to do.

Haru for his part was nodding. "You can beat him, Naruto-san. I believe in you."

Naruto laughed uneasily as he made his way to stand on the opposite side of the boy, Kaoru, if he recalled correctly. It wasn't as if he was going to like was he was going to do, but there really wasn't much to gain if he didn't. He didn't want to draw anymore attention to himself than of what there already was.

Kurama had to laugh at this, knowing full well just what his host was planning on doing.

**"Welcome back, dobe."**

The "dobe" wondered what his clone was dealing with at the moment.

* * *

Naruto's clone found itself hanging from the side of the main tower in Uzu occupied by the leader of the village. Unlike from the day before, security wasn't as tight as before. The clone wondered why that was for a moment before shaking the thought away. The boss had given him a very simple mission: find out just what exactly was going to go down before Orochimaru and the other Konoha shinobi left. Of course, the boss already knew that the decision had been to go to war, so this was just the boss's way of relieving some boredom for the afternoon.

Still, while security wasn't as rigid as before, the place where the meeting was taking place certainly was. Looking down, the clone squinted his eyes as he tried to see and hear what his grandfather and Orochimaru were discussing as they stood by the medium sized courtyard surrounding the tower. Their standing in the open like that really did make his job a lot harder. But not impossible.

Looking around, the clone judged his calculations as he sensed the chakra of a nearby shinobi stationed almost beneath him. He would have to be extra careful here. A plus for the clone, though, was that in between the courtyard stood a wall like structure with the Uzumaki's clan symbol proudly displayed. This separated the courtyard into two halves. Pushing chakra into his feet, the clone waited a moment longer before lunging forward towards the unsuspecting Uzu shinobi, using the burst of speed and the almost invisible movements that his sennin mode provided him with to his advantage.

The shinobi on guard fell forward after having been knocked out with the clone catching him before the body could fall to the ground. Placing the shinobi's unconscious body against the wall, the clone sat down crossed leg, concentrating as much as he could into his senses as well as keeping an eye on all other nearby chakra in case they tried anything.

* * *

Arashi looked on in slight annoyance as Orochimaru extended his thank you's to him and his nation for having have decided to help Konoha in the conflict. Arashi was never one for politics. Of course, that didn't mean that he hadn't train himself to keep his patience when needed. Orochimaru was really pushing it, though.

Orochimaru was currently bowing as he continued to speak, his mind not being entirely there at the moment, though. He was still stuck on last night's encounter with this….shadow. Things just didn't add up. Whoever the person was, he most certainly wasn't an Uzumaki if his hair had been anything to go by. Unless he had been under a henge. If that wasn't the case, though, that still left the question as to why he would even bother himself with Uzu in the first place. Scratch that, just why did he suspect Konoha of all places!?

The snake summoner did chuckle internally a few moments later, however. Now that he thought about it more, maybe this shadow's fears weren't so unfounded at all. A certain image of an old war hawk reached his mind. Danzo had recently asked for Orochimaru to join his Root unit. Thinking of his most recent confrontation, the jonin was seriously beginning to think that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"That's quite enough, Orochimaru. You don't have to thank us too much. Konoha and Uzu are like family after all."

Orochimaru paused as he realized that he had been speaking the entire time. Standing up straight, he put the best pleasant smile he could muster on his face.

"Right. My apologies. I must have gotten carried away there."

Arashi shook his head. "That's quite alright. Just let Hiruzen know that I'll be at Konoha as soon as possible to coordinate our plan of action. This should work in his favor."

Orochimaru nodded. "I shall. And once more, I thank you for this, Arashi-dono. You shall not regret this."

Arashi didn't respond out loud to that. 'I just hope so…..'

Bowing one final time, Orochimaru turned around, signaling for the other shinobi with him to follow as they were lead to the main port in the city back to the mainland by two Uzu shinobi.

Arashi watched them go silently, his mind trying to understand if he had done the right thing by having agreed to all of this.

* * *

Naruto laughed as Aika tried to stitch up his wounds with an ointment that she had thankfully been carrying around in addition to her lunch. A present from her mother she had said. Kaoru certainly did know how to pack a punch, though. The blond had to admit to that. Currently the pair was underneath the same tree in which they had met just days earlier with Naruto having his head on Aika's lap as the girl applied the ointment on his cheeks.

The girl was shaking her head as well. "After all that, you get your butt kicked. That's just sad, whiskers."

Naruto pouted. "Hey, it wasn't my fault! The guy could pack his punches!"

Aika pinched one of his cheeks, getting a yelp out of the whiskered boy. "You're just so lucky that I even care about you enough to be doing this in the first place."

Naruto crossed his arms with a huff as the girl went back to actually healing him instead of causing him even more pain. "Yeah, yeah…."

Aika didn't respond. She did smile, though.

After everyone had gone against someone else, the chunnin instructor had told them that they could have an hour to recuperate. And Naruto could see that it was badly needed on all of the kids. Still, it was only going to get a lot tougher from here on out. The blond idly wondered how many were going to last until the end.

After they had been given their break, Haru had gone off to the classroom to patch up on his own minor wounds as much as he could. The boy had been able to win his fight quite easily, the only problem having been that he just didn't have much power to back up his fists. He had the moves already, though. But because of his lack of power, his opponent had been able to land one good hit on the boy before Haru brought him down.

As for Kushina, the girl was with her other group of "friends," talking excitedly about something as they huddled together near the opposite side of the courtyard. But their giggling as they looked at Kaoru gave Naruto the impression that the boy was the topic of their conversation.

Now that amused the blond greatly. He never would have thought. His mother, to have a crush like this. Unable to stop himself, he began to laugh.

Aika looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

Naruto pointed at Kushina and her group. "Them. It's kinda funny seeing them head over heels like that over that guy." He remembered how much it had made his blood boil when Sakura had been the same way with Sasuke during their academy days.

Aika grinned. "You don't have to convince me of that. So he's good looking. He's also a bit of an ass."

Naruto spluttered slightly as he looked up at the girl currently tending to his wounds as she focused on the group of girls. This girl just continued to surprise him. She certainly was one of a kind alright.

Aika finally shrugged before going back to rubbing more ointment on Naruto's cheeks. "I'll just let them have him, I guess."

Both laughed, knowing full well that it wasn't exactly a blessing to the boy. But it was just too funny for them to be able to _not _laugh.

Inside Naruto's mind, Kurama was grinning to himself as he observed all of this. This Aika girl really did intrigue him all right. And it seemed that his host was beginning to get a bit smitten with her too. Well, that just worked out all the same for the bijuu. Better actually.

**'Let's just see where this will lead to….'**

* * *

Outside of Uzu, now being back in the Land of Fire's territory in the Port city, Orochimaru looked back to catch a glimpse of what could be seen of Uzu in the distance. The blur did nothing to show the village's actual size. Shaking his head, he walked away from the harbor and further into the city, already having told his other companions to move on ahead.

Walking into a deserted alley, it wasn't long before the jonin sensed the presence of the one that he had been waiting for.

"You certainly do work fast, Orochimaru."

Orochimaru chuckled as he turned around to see none other than Danzo himself flanked by two other members of his Root. Currently, Danzo himself was wearing an anbu uniform.

Danzo carried on. "I was surprised when I received your message you sent me from your summons…"

"Surprised?"

Danzo narrowed his only visible eye, the other covered in bandages. "Weary is more like it. I'm not so trustful of an individual who suddenly decides to agree to join my organization just like that. Just days before it seemed as if you were going to reject my offer. But now, you suddenly agree. I'm not one to turn a blind eye to a little detail such as that."

Neither commented on the irony of that statement.

Orochimaru grinned. "And yet, you rushed over here."

"I was in the area is all. If not, I would have asked you to wait before confronting you."

Orochimaru filed that particular detail for later. "Yes, well, you certainly are right into being suspicious at my sudden change of heart."

Danzo remained silent at hearing that, instead letting the shinobi in front of him continue.

"During my visit to Uzu with my negations with Uzumaki Arashi, I had the pleasure of encountering a certain fascinating individual, one which I think you will want to keep a closer eye on in the future."

"And you're willing to offer me this information because….?"

Orochimaru chuckled again. "For one, it's because I know that you don't have any spies placed in Uzu due to their well placed defenses, meaning that I've put myself in a well placed position with this information. And secondly, I'm offering a trade. A spot in your Root with exactly what you're planning on doing. In return, I'll offer my services as well as what I know of this new possible threat to your future plans regarding Uzu….."

Danzo merely gazed at Orochimaru with a hardened look, making said snake summoner realize that he had hit dead on. Danzo was indeed planning something in regards to Uzu, and now Orochimaru was more eager to find out than ever.

Finally, Danzo spoke. "You make a very good proposition, Orochimaru. I accept it. I was already wanting for you to be a part of Root, so this works for both of our favors. Just don't let Hiruzen know of this."

Orochimaru grinned. "That was my intention from the beginning."

Danzo h'mphed at hearing that before turning around, tilting his head to let Orochimaru know to follow him. Orochimaru did so with barely restrained eagerness.

The sun was descending on its pathway across the sky, its rays not illuminating Uzu in the distance. A new, dark horizon now stood in its place for a few moments.

More pieces were now on the move. It was almost showtime.

* * *

**Yo.**

**Well, I don't really have much to say right now except that I'm back again! Yeah, yeah, hold your applause for later. At any rate, this will be the last "Naruto" focused chapter for the moment. Next, we move on to Sasuke to see what he's dealing with before we wrap up with the "Welcome to the Past" arc of the story.**

**I don't know how I'm doing on it so far, but meh, I'll see. But yeah, Danzo is now on the move as well. I'm not really going to say anything else about that except that I've already planned out how things are going to end with this particular scheme. I have a feeling that most, if not all, of you are not going to like it. And all I can say is that I'm sorry, but that's just how I see the story unfolding.**

**That's all for now. Don't know when I'll be back again but stay tune. Things haven't even started to become interesting yet.**

**Till next time.**


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